Flemming Pedersen felt that defensive mistakes cost his side as they were beaten 2-1 by Colchester United in the U21 Professional Development League Two South this afternoon. The Bees took the lead through Jan Holldack in the first-half but goals either side of the break from Macauley Bonne sent the three points back down the A12 to Colchester. Speaking to Bees Player after the match Flemming felt today’s match was a good test for his players against a strong Us side.
“I want to give a lot of credit to Colchester United because they were a very competitive side,” said Flemming. “They might have been a little older than us but they were definitely stronger and faster. They were very competitive and that made it a good game for us because we needed to do our best to stay in the game. We wanted to play fast because they wanted to play with high pressing. We needed quick orientation when the players got the ball because we couldn’t play through their press otherwise.
“Both the goals were too easy and there was a lack of defensive structure. We have trained twice in the last 14 days with the back four, two central midfielders and goalkeeper but we still miss structure in our defence, especially in the final third.”
After the draw with Watford 11 days ago Flemming, who took over from Kevin O’Connor as Head Coach at the start of the month, felt that his side had three weeks to get fully up to speed with how he wanted them to play. Despite the defeat this afternoon the experienced Danish coach said he saw enough in The Bees performance to suggest that his side will meet that deadline.
“Even though we lost today there was a big difference from the Watford game,” said Flemming. “The standard of both teams today was massively different. We still have a way to go but it was a good, competitive game. The two weeks before the Ipswich Town game will give us what we need to win games. We are not only playing to develop players but also to win. Hopefully we will see that the players develop but also that we win games too.”
Bees PlayerHD subscribers can watch the full interview with Flemming below.