The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the nature of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
