The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. 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 be at Lazio this season. He was on last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, almost all of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was persistently working to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
