The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had conceded 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign 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 being defeated in the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if they're getting better or collapsing.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the nature of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
