The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been a thread holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic in their performances as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
