The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club became as messy during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Presence
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He completed last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
