The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
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 this summer, before he admitted that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Presence
One individual remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
