The mood at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he admitted that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were attempting to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
