The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
