The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he admitted that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in 2022-23, the vast majority of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to identify the nature of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
