The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, defeating 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, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
At least one man remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were attempting to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
