The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, early this summer, Lazio were attempting to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
