The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other initial five matches, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Presence
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, Lazio were attempting to remain there for another season. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in 2022-23, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
