'No-one's going to work harder than me': One-on-one with Pacific FC star Marco Bustos
MVP aspirations, returning to Winnipeg, and unfinished business from the Island Games
There are no small plans with Marco Bustos. To spend time with the 25-year-old attacking midfielder is to become familiar with the word “ambition.” The MVP debate? “I’m coming [into] 2021 to show who’s the best player in the league,” says the Winnipegger. The North Star Shield? “We’re coming to win—plain and simple.” Career progress? “I want to play at a higher level.”
To be in Bustos’ orbit, though, is more than to be buffeted with big plans—it is to believe them. Why wouldn’t you, after a season in which the Pacific star improved his production—by no small measure, either—in every meaningful category?
He was the rarest of sports phenomenons: the much-hyped free agent who changes clubs and manages to surpass expectations. The tall-talker and the truth-teller. The singular force who drew defenders and Twitter chatter alike, only to shrug them off like stray thoughts.
The expectations for Bustos are even greater than when he arrived to Vancouver Island from Valour FC. A fourth-place finish won’t mollify the club’s front office or supporters. With Pacific’s young core entering their third season together, and the additions of Manny Aparicio and forward Gianni dos Santos, there’s a feeling of title potential around this club. I spoke with Bustos about those expectations, returning to his hometown in a new uniform, and his connection with head coach Pa-Modou Kah.
This interview has been lightly condensed for clarity.
When you signed with Pacific last season, I’m sure a part of you was looking ahead to that first road game back in Winnipeg. Then 2020 hit, and you were off to PEI instead. Now you’ve got a chance to go home for the start of this season. What are you feeling?
MB: Yeah, obviously, when I first signed for Pacific, for me, I felt [the club] was going to give me the best opportunity to keep excelling in my career and get myself to the next level. It’s no secret where I want to get to, and for me, Pacific is the place for that.
[But] it’s exciting [to go home]. You want to go back home and play against an old team, your old friends, teammates, in front of your old fans. I was definitely excited to be one of the first players to move within the league to another team and get that going, but obviously with the pandemic, it wasn’t going to happen. But yeah, now that we’re going back to Winnipeg, I think it’ll be cool.
[It’s] a stadium that I’m familiar with, [one] I’ve scored goals in. I’m feeling excited, for sure. It’ll be a bit different, because there’ll be no fans, but still, it’s home, which will be nice to play in. And I think that’s actually going to give me a bit of an advantage.
Let’s talk about last season for a moment. You come into a new club with new faces around you. There was a lot of excitement about the team that was put together. How do you look back at the Island Games and how things played out?
MB: It’s an exciting group. It was a tournament that none of us had been through before. None of us had been through a pandemic. It was new to a lot of us, the way things were set up. But at the end of the day, we’re all footballers, and we all wanted to play. I think we tried to make the best of it.
For me, I think we went in with a lot of grit. It’s what you need in a tournament like that. You know, after playing so many games and not being able to play for so long, I think what we needed was to just go and grind it out. And I think we did that, for the most part.
“I think we went [into the Island Games] with a lot of grit. It’s what you need in a tournament like that.” - Marco Bustos
Obviously, we finished in the top four, which was a goal of ours coming into the tournament. But we definitely fell short, because we had quality to win it all. With some moments, we definitely need to do better. The standard is always high. We’re a club that wants to win. And this year, we’re coming to win—plain and simple.
You put together a heck of a season: five goals, three assists, and a Player of the Year nomination. What enabled that growth?
MB: I love playing football. It’s a part of me. I think coming to the CPL was a big step for me. Being able to get playing time consistently was a big part of the decision why I joined the CPL. I thought, “why don’t I come to Valour and play lots and see what happens?” I came to Valour and played every game, every minute, which was important for my growth.
And then taking a step forward and coming to Pacific, Pa[-Modou Kah], who I’ve known for a long time, he sets the standard for me. He believes in me a lot. He knows that I can get to the next level. He just gave me that extra motivation that pushed me to want to be the best in the league. It’s easy to say that you want to be the best, but you have to show it with actions, and that’s the kind of guy I am. I work hard, and I keep my head down, and I know no-one’s going to work harder than me.
At the end of the day, I think when you’re putting in the hard work, it shows on the field. And for me, that’s the key—it’s been showing. I [just] stay humble and hungry, and coming in, [expect] nothing less than trying to show that I’m the best player in the CPL. And that’s the mentality that I think a lot of players need to have if we want to win a trophy.
First off, I want to win; I want to be a champion. And I’m coming [into] 2021 to show who’s the best player in the league, too. For me, a goal coming to Pacific was obviously to be a champion, but [also] an MVP-nominated player—and I didn’t win, which fuels a bit of fire in me to go back and get better. So if there’s a better me on the field, then that creates a better team, and overall, that can lead us to a championship.
So for me it’s just about staying consistent, staying healthy, and being hungry and motivated. We’re coming for nothing less than a championship. And for me, just to keep showing what I’m about, and show what I can bring to the team and to the league, and going in with the mentality to be the best player.
You’ve spoken before about your ambition to progress to higher-tier football. I’m imagining there were offers out there after last season, if you wanted to ply your trade in another league. What brought you back to Pacific?
MB: I respect Pa and the coaching staff here a lot. There were talks and some stuff going on [in the offseason], but for me, the best fit was to [return to] Pacific, go another year, and keep showing what I’m about, keep showing what I can bring. If I’m the best player in the league here, that’s another step forward for taking a jump—and like I said, it’s no secret; I want to play at a higher level, but you’ve got to take steps towards that. And I think another year in the CPL is taking another step forward: to keep showing my consistency, keep showing what I can bring.
“For me, the best fit was to [return to] Pacific, go another year, and keep showing what I’m about.” - Marco Bustos
The club has a good plan for me, and I believe [in them]. I always go back to hard work. I believe with hard work and motivation, determination, you can get wherever you want to get to. And Pa knows where I want to get to; I know where I want to get to. And when you work together, anything’s possible.
What have the last eight months been like for you, since the Island Games ended?
MB: It’s been long, to be honest. You really get to know yourself when there’s a lot of training alone, staying motivated. You test yourself: how motivated can you be to train every day, to want to get better? That’s my mentality. I wake up every day, and I just want to get better. Whatever it is that I have to do to get better, that’s my mentality. And obviously, it’s been a long eight, nine months, but this is what you prepare for.
I knew we were going to play, and I just wanted to be best prepared, and I’m prepared to go out and give my all and show what I can do. And the team is prepared as well. We’ve been training hard. We have a good coaching staff, we have good leaders on the team, really good players, and I think when you bring that all together, it’ll show. And I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people.
What was your focus this offseason? What elements of your game did you look to improve?
MB: For me, it was being more dangerous—scoring goals, getting myself in better goal-scoring opportunities, assisting more. That’s something I’ve been working on in much detail the past three months: different ways to create goals, create chances for the team. Being more effective.
It’s easy to say I want to score more goals, and I want to assist more, but you’ve gotta go into the detail of how that needs to be done—through video and watching the best players in the world do it relative to your position and the way you play, and then bringing it to the pitch and doing it repetitively [until] it becomes a habit. That’s what I’ve been focusing on a lot lately—just being clinical in front of the net.
If you’re watching the world’s best, whose example are you looking to follow—and what do they do best?
MB: Well, everyone who knows me knows I’m a huge fan of [Lionel] Messi. I’ll never compare myself to the top players in the world, because unfortunately, I’m not there. But that’s someone who I watch, and who inspires me, and inspires many. The way he just takes control of a game when the team needs him, the way he reads the game—when you’re watching, a lot of people will say he’s walking and not involved in the game, but he really is; he’s analyzing his defenders, what space to get into, and when he gets [the ball], he knows exactly what he’s going to do.
And that’s something I’ve worked towards—obviously at a different level. I’m trying to make my mark in that sense: get the ball and already know what I’m going to do with it. I think that’s the difference between top players and good players. The top players, when they get it, they know what they’re going to do. And they make it happen. That’s why I love watching Messi so much.
One revelation from last season was the way you were able to build chemistry with Kadin Chung on the right flank. Could you talk about him as a player and the dynamic you’ve found?
MB: Kadin’s amazing. He’s such a good guy, first of all, and the way he plays is just so effortless; the way he trains is just effortless. It’s easy to connect with a guy like that. We [complement] each other a lot. He likes to get high and wide and run the line, and I like to play more inside—so it works with both of us.
“[Kadin] likes to get high and wide and run the line, and I like to play more inside—so it works with both of us.” - Marco Bustos
He’s a good footballer. There’s no-one in the league I’d rather play with behind me. For me, he’s the best right-back in the league. And I’m excited that I get to play with him another year and see his growth. He’s growing a lot in his mental capacity. I can see now that he’s believing in himself more and what he can bring to the team. He’s growing as a person, as a footballer, and that’s what I like to see. Being one of the leaders on the team, you don’t say it enough, but I hope Kadin reads this and knows how many guys believe in him—and I’m one of them.
You’ve played against Manny Aparicio for the past two seasons. Now he’s a teammate of yours. What kind of potential do you see bringing him into the fold? What does he bring to this club?
MB: He’s another great footballer in the league. He’s done well at York; he captained them. He has a leadership quality, which is awesome. And he’s a great guy, too. First of all, you want to have good guys on the team and in the locker room, and he’s one of those.
The quality he brings to the field speaks for itself. And he’s another piece to the puzzle we’re trying to build here. He’s technically sound, he’s calm on the ball, he has a good shot, he has everything to be a top midfielder in this league—and that’s what I think he is. And now, it’s another year to show that in different colours and with different teammates around him, and it’s another piece to build toward a championship. I’ve played with him before in the Canada youth setup, and I’m excited to share the field with him again.
Pacific’s coach, Pa-Modou Kah, has spoken about the mind frame of “trust the process.” You’ve mentioned that before as well. What do those words mean to you?
MB: They’re big words for me. It starts individually. As young players, you want to jump to the top right away, but to me, this [game] is a process. Trusting the process is trusting the plan that’s laid in front of you. Knowing Pa for so long and coming in here, there’s a plan laid out for me behind the scenes, and I’m trusting it. I’ve gotta control what I can control with what’s in front of me, and that’s coming into training every day and giving it my all, and trying to get better.
“Knowing Pa for so long and coming in here, there’s a plan laid out for me behind the scenes, and I’m trusting it.” - Marco Bustos
I look at myself in the mirror and [ask], “did I get better today?” And most days, I say yes. There are some days where you’re not at your best— you can’t be at your best seven days a week for six months; it’s impossible—but in the long run, have I gained margins? Of course. My big word is “working hard.” I come in with hard work and try to set my standard, and the standard for others. And that’s just trusting the process: my ambition of wanting to get to a higher level. Trusting the process, step by step, and getting to that goal.
This guy’s drive and work ethic are inspiring to me. Makes me want to work harder towards the goals in my own life!