The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him admitted that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for 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 stay there for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the nature of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
