🔗 Share this article

The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.

A Season Falling Apart?

Was the team's progress falling apart, or did there exist a binding element holding it together from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.

The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or imploding.

Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback

At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.

He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."

Finding His Natural Fit

Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to identify the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn