The feeling at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or did there exist a thread holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club became as messy in their performances as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their initial five matches, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, Lazio were attempting to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in 2022-23, all but one of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
