The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, Lazio were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in 2022-23, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
