The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in 2022-23, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
