The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Presence
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, all but one of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
