The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him admitted that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Return
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the nature of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
