The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
