The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he publicly stated that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his owning club were attempting to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
