The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Return
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
