The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, 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 being defeated in the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn