The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team 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 ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other 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 Unexpected Presence
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in 2022-23, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
