The mood at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Return
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in 2022-23, all but one of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
