The feeling at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever a thread holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed originally when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
