The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, only for him publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this season. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, 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 "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
