The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or had there never been a binding element holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, but then he admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the nature of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
