The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the board had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, almost all of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
