The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last 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 Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or was there ever a thread holding it together from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he admitted that the club 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 "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Surprising Comeback
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in 2022-23, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the nature of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
