The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever a binding element holding it together in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Presence
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
