The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion holding it together from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Presence
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
