The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a thread holding it together from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
At least one man remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances with the club in 2022-23, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
