The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, only for him to later acknowledge 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 without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He was on the last one on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in 2022-23, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
