The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if they are improving or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
