The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
