The mood at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining initial five matches, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
