The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he admitted that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Presence
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
