The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was persistently working to identify the nature of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
