The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
The Youngster's Surprising Comeback
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived originally when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in 2022-23, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to determine the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
