The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
