The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever a binding element holding it together from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
