The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or was there ever a binding element holding it together from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
At least one man kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league 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 after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
