The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a thread holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, but then he admitted that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this year. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
