The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, only for him publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining initial five matches, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
At least one man continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He completed last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the nature of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
