The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, defeating 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's been difficult to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
