The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or was there ever a binding element holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived 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 in Lazio colors in 2022-23, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
