The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Comeback
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were attempting to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in 2022-23, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
