The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Presence
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed originally when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 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, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
