The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. 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 off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
