The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
