The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Comeback
One individual remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in 2022-23, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
