The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this year. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
