The feeling at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him 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. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this season. He spent the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in 2022-23, almost all of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
