The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
