The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, but then he admitted that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the nature of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
