The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his owning club were attempting to remain there for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
