The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, only for him publicly stated that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
