The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
