Luc de Fougerolles

[Bigandy]

LDF is our #1 prospect. Bold take and theres a good chance that koleosho has a higher ceiling. However, buchanan, millar, corbeanu and nelson could all potentially move to top 5 leagues in the nearish future, while non of our CB prospects have a clear-ish path. 

[toontownman]

10 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

LDF is our #1 prospect. Bold take and theres a good chance that koleosho has a higher ceiling. However, buchanan, millar, corbeanu and nelson could all potentially move to top 5 leagues in the nearish future, while non of our CB prospects have a clear-ish path. 

No you gone made Nimmick sad...

[vancanman]

1 hour ago, frmr said:

Delighted to see him included. I need to learn how to pronounce his last name. Currently saying foie gras in my head.

/də fʊʒərɔl/ or, sort of:  de fuzhurul 

[blueseeka]

I was so positively shocked to see his name. Be very interesting to see if he is Kolescho'ing or actually willing to cap tie.

[frmr]

12 hours ago, Borjans Sweatpants said:

“After finding out he'd been drafted in, he told the Club's official website: "It feels great to be called up to any international age group, but it makes it extra special that it's the senior team, and it will be a great experience for me.

"It’s always been a dream to play internationally at any level, and to achieve it so young is an added bonus which will hopefully allow me to play for a longer period of time and make the most out of the experiences.

"I'm really looking forward to going away and playing with different players, and play styles which should benefit me."”

https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2023/october/05/De-Fougerolles-Receives-Canada-Call-Up/

Doesn’t seem too committal in his comments tbh, but I guess that’s to be expected.

Have to think that he’s talking to English media and doesn’t want to profess his allegiance to another country’s program to their audience. I’m cautiously optimistic that he’s committed and is just being professional. I’m sure if he was talking to Canadian media he would have a different tone.

[An Observer]

"It’s always been a dream to play internationally at any level, and to achieve it so young is an added bonus which will hopefully allow me to play for a longer period of time and make the most out of the experiences."

I interpret that as he is going to play as he effectively says its his dream to play internationally at such a young age.  He doesn't say its his dream to be selected or go to a camp or train or sit on the bench which I think he would have said something along those lines if he wasn't planning to play.  Or maybe I am just reading too much into the grammar of a remark made to the press.

[RojitoTO]

Usually a players performances in first division football is what garners attention from scouts and leads to more opportunities in the top flight. But, sometimes, irrespective of club performance, international performances supersede club play and generate buzz and attention and greater opportunities. Canada is being watched more than we have ever before. Scouts will tune into our games and if they see that we highly rate a youngster by giving them meaningful playing time then that can accelerate their club progression. I think some of these youngsters recognize this. I think we gotta give more young guys a real, meaningful chance instead of just ever so slowly weaning them in. It doesn't  just let them know that they're in the fold and have a legitimate chance to break into the first team, but it puts scouts and clubs on notice and it will help advance their club careers. That is something that can successfully attract some of these dual nationals.

Edited October 6, 2023 by RojitoTO

[dyslexic nam]

I just look forward to the Biello bandwagon if he successfully recruits LDF.  

[Ottawafan]

Love that he accepted the call up instead of saying he is undecided at the moment when it comes to playing internationally.  Not convinced he will actually step onto the field for Canada in this game but more than half the battle is getting a player to come to a camp/game.  

[grigorio]

47 minutes ago, Ottawafan said:

Love that he accepted the call up instead of saying he is undecided at the moment when it comes to playing internationally.  Not convinced he will actually step onto the field for Canada in this game but more than half the battle is getting a player to come to a camp/game.  

💯 Meanwhile over in the Jebbison camp... 🦗🦗

[spitfire]

Liam was a dual national(England had asked him to a youth camp at the time) that made his senior men’s debut at 18  in n Marcia Spain Vs New Zealand(and got motm btw) at the time Liam was playing u23 at liverpool FC and U19 uefa youth league. It’s really important to bed these players in young and see what they can do. 
I know that Herdman gave Liam the belief to be fearless and he smashed every training session and got the start. For Luc to be a premier league club in the u21s and getting on the bench he’s a big prospect and I don’t think we can afford another Tomori. 
 

if he shows up and stakes a claim what do we hve to loose…

[An Observer]

https://theathletic.com/4954245/2023/10/11/canada-fulham-luc-de-fougerolles/

A good read for those that have access.  And highlights the deep connections to Canada through his father

[Borjans Sweatpants]

48 minutes ago, An Observer said:

https://theathletic.com/4954245/2023/10/11/canada-fulham-luc-de-fougerolles/

A good read for those that have access.  And highlights the deep connections to Canada through his father

“A request to speak to de Fougerolles was declined via Fulham’s academy, but multiple sources briefed on the dual national player’s future maintain he is intent on playing for Canada’s senior team long-term.”

😍

[dyslexic nam]

[InglewoodJack]

It's kinda crazy when you think about it if he's actually that intent on playing for us. He's born, raised, and plays in England, is probably good enough to at least try and crack through their youth system and make a run at their senior team, he wasn't raised looking up to Canadian soccer players, even his father has probably lived almost his entire life in England, and yet...? There's no reason he shouldn't be taking the Jebbison or Koleosho path, and I'm sure there's still time for him to get swayed by England especially once he does go on loan which is what sounds like his next move is, but if he's as dedicated to playing for Canada as the article says he is, and if he decides to commit to the team so early on into his career, that's huge. That, and for once, having a passionate soccer dad push his kid towards us should earn him lifetime call ups regardless of if he pans out. Hell, even if he busts and ends up washing up in the CPL at 30, give him the Doneil Henry call up and let him play in games he shouldn't be.

I do wonder what sort of conversations happen behind the scenes for things like this. For all the issues with the CSB and Canada Soccer's funding, I wonder if it's realistic for a player like LDF, if he completely pans out and becomes a good Premier League player, if from an endorsement perspective, if he could earn more playing for us than England. If he becomes say, Canada's second most well known soccer player during his prime, we're talking about being one of the most recognizable athletes in all of Canada which is a big market- I wonder if that CIBC check will hit a lot harder than the deals that rotational centrebacks for England would.

Anyways, hope he makes the right decision and plays for us, and I hope he does it quickly. I don't know what sort of learnings Canada Soccer can take from some of the dual nats that we've lost that they can apply to this situation, but it's awesome to hear that such a potentially transformational player for us actually wants to play for us. Praying he sees the pitch tomorrow.

[Ottawafan]

Without more info it's hard to determine his thought process or his goal.  Maybe his intentions are to play for Canada, come hell or high water.  Maybe he's generally curious but unsure what to do.  Or perhaps he's using this as a way to push England to see him as a viable English national team player.  Good news so far is Canada has him in camp.

 

[Kadenge]

Sounds like this is not an attend camp to look, see and get a feel, so  would expect him to get mins in the game, assuming he has performed well in practice. It's early in his career, but fantastic news if true.

[blueseeka]

For those of you without access to athletic

Click google translate

https://translate.google.com/

Copy link

https://theathletic.com/4954245/2023/10/11/canada-fulham-luc-de-fougerolles/

And then paste link into google translate

And click on translated link for full article

[Obinna]

I am encouraged about this kid and love that we called him and adamant we need to give him minutes tomorrow but at the same time I cannot let myself get THAT encouraged by it. Until he starts to play for Fulham regularly we are just projecting into the future and projections can often leave one disappointed when they don't play out as expected. Nothing is guaranteed but once he does start getting into Cup games and then eventually Prem games then I will be over the moon about him. Until then it's just a positive step in the right direction, which is great don't get me wrong.

[InglewoodJack]

50 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I am encouraged about this kid and love that we called him and adamant we need to give him minutes tomorrow but at the same time I cannot let myself get THAT encouraged by it. Until he starts to play for Fulham regularly we are just projecting into the future and projections can often leave one disappointed when they don't play out as expected. Nothing is guaranteed but once he does start getting into Cup games and then eventually Prem games then I will be over the moon about him. Until then it's just a positive step in the right direction, which is great don't get me wrong.

Hey, if he ends up like one of our guys that started at a big academy and ended elsewhere like Ugbo or Millar, I'll take that. LDF being a ~championship level CB for us is massive. I mean hell, one of our two pencilled in CB starters is only pencilled in as a starter because he's found a good gig as Messi's personal assistant. If he ends up better than guys like McGraw, McNaughton, Waterman, etc., he's got a long NT career. Maybe not transformational for our NT, but if you were to map out all of the probable scenarios with LDF's career, almost all of them, even the more negative ones, lead him to being a good player that we can use. He'd have to sink really low to not improve over who we currently have.

[Bigandy]

2 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Hey, if he ends up like one of our guys that started at a big academy and ended elsewhere like Ugbo or Millar, I'll take that. LDF being a ~championship level CB for us is massive. I mean hell, one of our two pencilled in CB starters is only pencilled in as a starter because he's found a good gig as Messi's personal assistant. If he ends up better than guys like McGraw, McNaughton, Waterman, etc., he's got a long NT career. Maybe not transformational for our NT, but if you were to map out all of the probable scenarios with LDF's career, almost all of them, even the more negative ones, lead him to being a good player that we can use. He'd have to sink really low to not improve over who we currently have.

This! 

LDF as a 17 year old kid in an academy could arguably be our 7th best Cb. Obviously you can argue from a pro game experience and say that he would be 7-12th. However, if stefanovic can get mls games and look comfortable, that could move him to around a waterman/zator level. LDF is at least as good as stefanovic. If he only improves by filling out physically and gaining experience, then hes likely a championship CB and our best CB (unless stefanovic, smith etc make a huge step) 
1. cornelius
2. Miller
3. Vitoria
4. Kennedy
5. bombito
6. ZMG 
7. LDF
8. LM 
9. zator
10. waterman
11. hiebert
12. stefanovic

[InglewoodJack]

4 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

This! 

LDF as a 17 year old kid in an academy could arguably be our 7th best Cb. Obviously you can argue from a pro game experience and say that he would be 7-12th. However, if stefanovic can get mls games and look comfortable, that could move him to around a waterman/zator level. LDF is at least as good as stefanovic. If he only improves by filling out physically and gaining experience, then hes likely a championship CB and our best CB (unless stefanovic, smith etc make a huge step) 
1. cornelius
2. Miller
3. Vitoria
4. Kennedy
5. bombito
6. ZMG 
7. LDF
8. LM 
9. zator
10. waterman
11. hiebert
12. stefanovic

Yeah just thinking of it from a best/worst case scenario, for him to not be useful for us, he'd have to sink from being one of the best youth CB prospects in the entire English developmental system to basically being a CPL level pro, and it will all have to collapse within the next 5 years. Possible that he ends up somewhere in the middle, but so many things would have to go wrong for him to "drop" to a Derek Cornelius level, let alone even lower on our depth charts. Really excited to see how he plays against Japan if he's called upon.

[narduch]

Not sure if I missed it in here but today is his 18th Birthday

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, InglewoodJack said:

Hey, if he ends up like one of our guys that started at a big academy and ended elsewhere like Ugbo or Millar, I'll take that. LDF being a ~championship level CB for us is massive. I mean hell, one of our two pencilled in CB starters is only pencilled in as a starter because he's found a good gig as Messi's personal assistant. If he ends up better than guys like McGraw, McNaughton, Waterman, etc., he's got a long NT career. Maybe not transformational for our NT, but if you were to map out all of the probable scenarios with LDF's career, almost all of them, even the more negative ones, lead him to being a good player that we can use. He'd have to sink really low to not improve over who we currently have.

And that's just it. For years we have talked about having a transformational piece in the back and a lot of that was Tomori talk.

I would be thrilled if we have a Championship calibre player in LDF, don't get me wrong, it just wouldn't be that transformational piece we need in the backline. 

None of this is to say he won't be that piece by the way, just too early to tell right now. Better to cap him now though either way.

[Bigandy]

39 minutes ago, Obinna said:

And that's just it. For years we have talked about having a transformational piece in the back and a lot of that was Tomori talk.

I would be thrilled if we have a Championship calibre player in LDF, don't get me wrong, it just wouldn't be that transformational piece we need in the backline. 

None of this is to say he won't be that piece by the way, just too early to tell right now. Better to cap him now though either way.

What is transformational? I would say someone like staq who clearly changes how our midfield can play. With staq, we can have some other decent pieces like MAK, Oso and atiba and compete with anyone in concacaf. 

With LDF playing in the championship, we could play 4atb, press higher and reduce the goals we concede from long ball counters. Thats transformational to me. You could argue that bombito as a top MLS cb could transform our backline in the same way, but as a lower quality player. 

transformational to me is all relative and with our extreme lack of right footed CB's, it won't take much to seriously transform our back line. If LDF ends up in a top 5 league, top team in a league like portugal or holland, then he will take our defense to 2 or 3 notches of transformational.