Race for the Roster: Can de Fougerolles move into the starting XI?

The biggest news in Canadian football this week is Luc de Fougerolles getting his loan move and making his first professional start.

The 19-year-old centre-back joined Belgian side Dender on a season-long loan from boyhood club Fulham. Dender finished second in the Belgian Challenger Pro League last season to earn promotion to the top-flight Pro League. The team previously played for three seasons in the Pro League from 2007 to 2009 and this season will mark its first return since.

De Fougerolles made his first appearance for the side on Saturday and was handed a start in a 1-1 draw with Standard Liege. Dennis Eckert scored for the hosts in the 65th before Roman Kvet equalized 20 minutes later to make it two draws to open the campaign for Dender. How did de Fougerolles do? Pretty well for a player making his first professional start.

De Fougerolles played for 76 minutes before being replaced by Kobe Cools. He made 40 of 45 pass attempts, made three tackles and six recoveries. He had 55 touches and 28 carries.

With that performance, de Fougerolles becomes Canada's most in-form defender.

Is that enough to sway Steven Caldwell to hand de Fougerolles a spot in the starting XI? Not just yet. But the move to Belgium is heavily significant for the Cottagers youth product. With Dender, de Fougerolles will undoubtedly be getting regular playing time. That's one of the reasons why Fulham chose the club to loan de Fougerolles out. As de Fougerolles appears to be poised for game time, Derek Cornelius, the player whose spot in the starting XI would come under threat from de Fougerolles, might not be.

In his first season in Ligue 1 last year, Cornelius struggled at times for Marseille. He faces competition for playing time in central defence from Argentina duo Leonardo Balerdi, who is also OM captain, and Facundo Medina. Match time will be a huge factor for Jesse Marsch when it comes to selecting his roster next summer. While Cornelius looks to be a very good bet to make the team, how big his role will be is most certainly subject to the kind of form he shows this season.

Speaking of form, the case of James Pantemis is a fascinating one. Let's take a look at who is on Caldwell's bubble right now.

As of right now, Kirkland, Que.'s Pantemis is on the outside looking in with Caldwell preferring Brighton's Tom McGill for the third goalkeeper's spot. But Pantemis is doing whatever he can to force the issue, registering back-to-back clean sheets for the Portland Timbers in Leagues Cup action, first in a 4-0 win over Atletico de San Luis on July 30 and then in a 1-0 victory over 10-man Queretaro this past Saturday. Pantemis made seven saves over the two wins. The most intriguing aspect of Pantemis's play is that not only does it have bearing on who Marsch's third goalkeeper will be, it will have a major effect on who his No. 1 is next summer. With the Timbers, Pantemis is competing with Maxime Crepeau for playing time. The more frequently Pantemis is between the wickets, the more likely Minnesota United's Dayne St. Clair beats out Crepeau to be Canada's No. 1 at the World Cup. This is a storyline to monitor.

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Here's what Caldwell's squad looks like in Week 9 (Note that the lock icon represents a lock for the starting XI)

Race for the Roster: Week 9 (4-4-2)

Forwards

STARTERS: Jonathan David (Juventus) and Cyle Larin (Mallorca)
BENCH: Promise David (Union SG), Daniel Jebbison (Preston North End, on loan from Bournemouth) and Tani Oluwayesi (Minnesota United)

Midfield and Defenders

STARTING MIDFIELDERS: Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich) INJ, Niko Sigur (Hajduk Split), Stephen Eustaquio (Porto) and Tajon Buchanan (Villarreal)
BENCH: Jacob Shaffelburg (Nashville), Ismael Koné (Sassuolo, on loan from Marseille) Liam Millar (Hull City) INJ, Nathan Saliba (Anderlecht), Mathieu Choiniere (Los Angeles FC), Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC) and Ali Ahmed (Vancouver Whitecaps)

STARTING DEFENDERS: Richie Laryea (Toronto FC), Derek Cornelius (Marseille), Moise Bombito (Nice) INJ and Alistair Johnston (Celtic)
BENCH: Sam Adekugbe (Vancouver Whitecaps) INJ, Jamie Knight-Lebel (Bristol City) and Luc de Fougerolles (Dender, on loan from Fulham)

Goalkeeper

STARTER: Dayne St. Clair (Minnesota United)
BENCH: Maxime Crepeau (Portland Timbers) and Tom McGill (Brighton)
IN THE HUNT: : James Pantemis (Portland Timbers) and Jonathan Sirois (CF Montreal)