The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his owning club were attempting to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in 2022-23, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
