The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him publicly stated that the board had not mentioned the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to identify the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
