The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were facing for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, 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 falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
