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The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 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 president Claudio Lotito.

A Season Coming Unstitched?

Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.

The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.

Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback

At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team without replacements.

Cancellieri arrived originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."

Finding His Natural Fit

Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn