The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
One individual remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
