The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or did there exist a thread holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
