The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been a binding element holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he admitted that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Comeback
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place 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, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn