The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Presence
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He spent the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in 2022-23, all but one of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
