The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
One individual remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the nature of the player's talent. Originally described as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
