The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for 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 for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
