The mood at their home stadium 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 previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he publicly stated that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, almost all of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
