The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Return
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this year. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
