The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He completed last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
