The mood at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that he could resign were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
At least one man kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in 2022-23, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
