The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a binding element holding it together from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to ascertain if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
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 in Lazio colors in 2022-23, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
