The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, only for him publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Presence
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
