The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to remain there for another season. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in 2022-23, all but one of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
