The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his parent club were attempting to stay there for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
