The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in 2022-23, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
