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The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.

This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?

Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, but then he publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.

Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if they're getting better or imploding.

Matteo's Surprising Presence

One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were attempting to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.

Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in 2022-23, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."

Discovering His Best Role

It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term 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