The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy in their performances as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
