The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the nature of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
