Laurent Courtois runs into Dawid Bugaj in the CF Montreal training room. He sees him speaking Italian with the coaching staff. “I did… what’s that?” says the head coach, smiling and looking a little bewildered.
Bugaj is the right-back that CFM acquired last July. A 20-year-old Pole who grew up in Norway, where he began his soccer career. And who comes to us from SPAL, in the Italian third division, even though he was on loan with Polish club Lechia Gdańsk during the last season.
CF Montreal vs Revolution
The New England Revolution comes to Saputo Stadium this Saturday night, starting at 7:30 p.m. The game is broadcast for free on Apple TV.
On this Friday morning at the Nutrilait Center, in perfect English, Bugaj addresses the media for the first time since his arrival in Montreal on July 16. The man who we discover to be a polyglot speaks four languages fluently: English, Italian, Polish and Norwegian.
And French?
” I hope [l’apprendre] ! he says with a smile. It will be difficult. But a lot of people speak French here, so I will definitely learn a few words.
Dawid Bugaj is part of this “breath of fresh air” that Courtois spoke of on Friday, with the arrival of four new players for the last nine matches of the season.
“He’s a very interesting guy,” he commented. “He’s shown an incredible ability to adapt, a desire to be coached and to progress which, for the moment, is [palpable]. It’s great to work with guys like that.”
For Dawid Bugaj, it goes without saying: this is exactly why he came to Montreal.
“It’s a club that wants to develop young players and transfer them to Europe,” he said. “For a young player, it’s the perfect place.”
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Dawid Bugaj in training last Tuesday
He himself was surprised by how quickly he was trusted. A few days after the announcement of their transfer to Montreal, Courtois had indicated that Tom Pearce and Bugaj were far from being ready to be part of the squad. Both were returning from a two-month vacation after the end of the European season.
To everyone’s surprise, they were the first to be sent onto the field two weeks later. They took part in all three CFM matches in the League Cup.
“I didn’t expect that,” admits Bugaj, who also says he “adapts quickly” to his environment.
“It’s a big step forward for me [de jouer en MLS]. The league and the teams are really good, they know how to play.”
“We see a lot of potential”
Bugaj’s father, Radosław, was also a professional soccer player.
“When I was 2 years old, we moved to Norway because my father was going to play there. The plan was to stay there for a few years. But in the end, my parents liked it so much that they stayed. I grew up and went to school there.”
Dawid played for Norwegian club Molde until he was 16. He was given a one-week trial with the great Borussia Dortmund, after which he received “good feedback”. But COVID-19 derailed his plans, and he had to return home.
PHOTO CHRIS SZAGOLA, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Dawid Bugaj (back, left) has been thrown into the fray in all three of the club’s League Cup games
He then headed to SPAL in Italy, a club with which he would kick the leather for three years starting in 2020. A loan took him back to Poland for the 2023-2024 season. But in the meantime, scouts from Bologna, Montreal’s sister club, were catching his eye.
“They thought he had a really interesting profile,” explained Gabriel Gervais last Tuesday. “They know the profile we’re looking for, and we communicate with them. They saw something special in him. He’s a young defender who is very, very disciplined defensively, who has a lot of speed, volume. He’s very clean with the ball. And who knows, maybe he can even play inside. We see a lot of potential, and resale potential.”
For now, Bugaj already has some serious competition at right back: Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty was acquired from Toronto for what could be as much as $1.3 million in general allocation money if he meets certain athletic requirements.
In the context of MLS and CF Montreal, that’s a lot. And he too, at 20, has great potential.
“It’s normal to have two, three players in each position,” Bugaj said. “You have to fight for your spot. It’s good for the players. It forces you to show the best of yourself every day. I’m happy that he’s here, we’ll be able to improve each other. We’ll fight for the team.”
“Numerical scenarios” for the end of the season
A rare occurrence for Laurent Courtois: all his players are healthy and available to be selected. With the exception, of course, of Mathieu Choinière.
Yes, that even includes Josef Martinez. Courtois said he felt “betrayed” by his star striker’s attitude recently, after he refused to train. The player was completely left out of the team’s last game.
“We have clarified two or three things,” he said on Friday. “We are starting from scratch.”
The head coach speaks of a “good dynamic” within a group that “is living well”. In this respect, the post-League Cup break “has done everyone good”.
At 27 points, CF Montreal is only one point behind 9th place.e and last place giving access to the qualifying match for the series (the play-ins). But it is also only four points behind last place in the East.
“The mentality is one game at a time,” he agrees. “But it’s certain that we were precise about the numerical scenarios, either to make the series, or to make the play-ins. […] Afterwards, I’m never very comfortable with that. I remember coaches who showed us a board of objectives. And after the first game, you don’t show the board anymore, you look like an idiot.”
“We know where we have to be. I’m taking each game one by one, half by half. I hope the message is clear on that.”