The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the management 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 stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Presence
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at 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 extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league with the club in 2022-23, the vast majority 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 "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
