The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Presence
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were attempting to remain there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in 2022-23, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
