The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
