The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in 2022-23, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
