The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn