The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
One individual remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
