(Columbus) “I was alone. There was only the pilot and the flight attendant. I was sitting and writing on my computer. And I couldn’t stop crying. »
Evan Bush loved, loves and will love Montreal. But his departure from the Quebec metropolis, after ten years with the Impact, was difficult for him.
The former jailer of the Bleu-blanc-noir spoke about it at length with The Press two weeks ago, during a meeting lasting almost 30 minutes at the Crew’s premises in Columbus.
In 2020, when he headed to Vancouver to briefly join the Whitecaps, Bush wrote a love letter to the city and the club that welcomed him in the “pivotal moments at the start of [sa] adult life”.
This was during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Whitecaps had chartered a flight for him to join them in Portland, where their base camp was located. The message, which he published on September 29, 2020 on Instagram, is very emotionally charged, and consists of ten slides.
“I was thinking about my family,” he remembers. My three children were born there, my wife and I were married there. I was very emotional. »
He remembers doing a TV interview after landing in Portland. It was with Patrick Friolet, from RDS. “And I broke down again during the interview. I was like, “Shit!” »
“A good time” to leave
Evan Bush begins by saying that his departure from Montreal was “bittersweet.” Then he retracts. “No, it was just sour at the time. »
And he doesn’t talk about his trade to Vancouver, which he accepted knowing that he would join the Crew in Ohio, where he is native, after that season.
My last 6 to 12 months [à Montréal] haven’t been the most comfortable, I would say.
Evan Bush
He speaks of a “toxic situation”, involving people “who are no longer at the club now”. He doesn’t name anyone. At the time, Thierry Henry was the head coach, and Rémy Vercoutre was the goalkeeping coach. Clément Diop was preferred as starting goalkeeper.
“I left on very good terms with the Saputo family, and I am really proud of the relationship I have with them. […] I was there for 10 years, and I didn’t want it to be tarnished by the way I left. »
“We miss Montreal, certain aspects of the club and the fan base,” adds Bush, including his wife. But it was a good time for me to leave. »
“I couldn’t do what he does.”
In Vancouver, with Marc Dos Santos and Youssef Dahha, two men he already knew from Montreal, Bush said he “rediscovered the pleasure of playing.”
In a way, the fact that I had 16 months left on my contract turned out to be a blessing. It allowed me to arrive [au Crew] and feel comfortable in the club. I was able to organize certain things for my post-career.
Evan Bush
We feel that the question burns your lips, dear reader. At 37 years old, what role does Evan Bush have in Columbus?
Let his trainer Wilfried Nancy answer. “To be honest with you, he was third goalie at the start of the year,” he said, explaining that he is now second.
“Very quickly, I saw Evan’s potential. He’s a little more open now, he’s a little older. His career is behind him. So, I can make him do things that he wouldn’t have accepted before. »
PHOTO PAUL VERNON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Crew coach Wilfried Nancy on October 21 in Columbus
Patrick Schulte, who had never played in MLS before this season, became a starter ahead of Eloi Room at the start of the season. Room has since moved to a Dutch first division club, but Bush’s professionalism and hard work have seen him move up the ranks. “The way he takes care of himself, he’s an example,” Nancy says.
And above all, he became the mentor of the rookie goalkeeper.
“I knew, through my conversations with the club, that they were going to want to rejuvenate themselves in this position,” explains Bush. I understood that I had to think about the next step in my life, with my family. Playing consistently was no longer a priority. […] I had a lot of fun helping the guys who were playing perform at a high level. »
Rudy Camacho admires the man he also met in Montreal.
He’s someone who works, who works and who works, but who doesn’t play. To be honest with you, I couldn’t do what he does.
Rudy Camacho, on Evan Bush
Evan Bush was given “carte blanche” to mentor Schulte, Nancy says. “If Pat had a good year, it’s because Evan was behind him. »
” In peace ”
Okay, so, becoming a coach when he hangs up his cleats (or his gloves) seems the obvious path, right?
“That’s what I’ve thought my whole career,” Bush said.
“It’s perhaps the Montrealer in me, having seen so many coaches come and go, only to change clubs in subsequent years. They have to move their families, or leave them in one place to train elsewhere. It’s not something I want. »
By aiming for “stability”, he is instead thinking of moving towards a slightly higher role within the Crew organization. Holder of an MBA, he would particularly like to help “build teams”.
Otherwise, he will “stay in Ohio and do something else,” concludes Evan Bush.
Moreover, the former resident of Hochelaga believes that returning to his hometown allowed him to “extend [sa] career of at least two years.
“I have been thinking about retirement for a number of years. I prepared myself. So I am at peace, no matter when the time comes. »