The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club became as messy during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Presence
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
