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The feeling at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.

A Season Unraveling?

Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.

The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.

Matteo's Unforeseen Return

At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He completed the last one on loan at Parma and, early this summer, Lazio were attempting to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.

Cancellieri arrived in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority 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 had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."

Discovering His Best Role

It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the nature of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn