The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
At least one man kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this season. He spent the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were attempting to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the nature of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
