The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in 2022-23, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to identify the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
