The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to ascertain if they're getting better or collapsing.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
At least one man remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were attempting to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the nature of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
