The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever a binding element holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Unexpected Return
At least one man remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were attempting to remain there for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
