The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, but then he admitted that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Unexpected Comeback
One individual remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
