The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent 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 concluding their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his owning club were attempting to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league with the club in 2022-23, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
