The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him publicly stated that the board had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Comeback
One individual remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
