The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been a thread holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, but then he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He spent last season on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
