The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
At least one man remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
