The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or had there never been a thread holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, only for him admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to ascertain if they are improving or collapsing.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
