The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
