The feeling at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Comeback
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
