The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the board 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 did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club became as messy in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Return
At least one man remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
