The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a binding element maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were attempting to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the exact type of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
