The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unexpected Comeback
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived originally under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
