The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, but then he publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were facing for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Return
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in 2022-23, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
