The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to determine the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
