The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever a thread holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the board had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Return
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He was on the last one on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in 2022-23, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
