The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to identify the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
