The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or was there ever a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
