The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Presence
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were attempting to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
