The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances with the club in 2022-23, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to identify the specific characteristics of his skill set. Originally described as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
