The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Rumours that he could resign were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 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, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
