The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, only for him admitted that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they're getting better or collapsing.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
One individual remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to remain there for another season. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in 2022-23, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
