The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever a thread holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized in their performances as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
