The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever a thread holding it together in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unexpected Comeback
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this season. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
