The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he publicly stated that the board had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he could resign were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
