The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were attempting to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
