The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
Matteo's Unforeseen Presence
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in 2022-23, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
