The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He spent last season on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
