Flemming Pedersen was really pleased with his team last night after Brentford B's win over Liverpool Under-23s at Griffin Park. The B Team Head Coach told Bees Player that he took plenty of positives from a 2-2 draw in regular time, followed by a 5-4 victory in a penalty shootout.
"I think we did very well at the start of the game," said Flemming, speaking after the final whistle. "We played with the intensity that we want and so did Liverpool. They are a good team who want to play with intensity and you could say they want to play honest football, which is about scoring goals. We are very satisfied with most of the first half, except the last five minutes, I think we were a little stiff. It looked like we were thinking about the fact we were one-nil up and they thought it was important to keep it that way going into half time, and that's fair enough.
"In the second half, I think we started very well again and scored the second goal. We were really trying to score to make it three-nil and we didn't get the big chances but we did have some big opportunities to create them but we missed the last pass. In the middle of the second half it was more back and forth because we weren't good at keeping the ball in the team. We lost the ball then Liverpool attacked, we won the ball and attacked again. So it was back and forth, which was a period that wasn't good enough and was way below our normal level."
Defender Yoann Barbet managed to get through the entire match without incident, making a full return to action after an ankle injury in pre-season. Flemming was impressed with Yoann's contribution and acknowledged that there is still more to come from the Frenchman.
"Yoann played a very good game. He took responsibility and tried to be calm with the ball. I would still demand more from him, but we have to consider that he has been injured. I know he is a very good football player, with a very good left foot, that's why I shouted at him in the second half. He played a fantastic diagonal ball into Jan Holldack that just passed their pressure and opened up Liverpool's team totally. That's what I expect from a player like Yoann so I was pleased with him and he can play this kind of quick football."
The match saw Brentford take a two goal lead before substitute Ben Woodburn led Liverpool's charge back into the game. For most of the fixture it looked like The Bees were in control, then a drop in concentration allowed their opponents a lifeline.
"Football is about space and time, so you have to pass the ball quicker. For us in the second half, some of our boys preferred to run with it instead of passing. That was a big mistake and we have to learn from that."
Jan Holldack was also deployed in this game as a forward player, despite having made appearances for Dean Smith's side as a right-back and defensive player. Flemming saw him adapting a similar role to one that he has played in the past.
"Jan is not a real member of the B Team because he has been training a lot with the First Team. If you are a member of a team, it's good for a coach to have these types of players who can play different roles. If you look at his positioning last season with the under-21s, he played a lot as a number 10 and that was exactly his role today. He played like a number 9 in the pressing but in possession his role was like a number 10. You could see Liverpool struggled with this because all of the time we had one man more than Liverpool in the midfield. Sometimes we just passed through them."
The Danish coach also took time to appreciate the level of intensity of the matches played so far this season, something he says was beyond everything he had expected from the new schedule.
"I would not have dreamt about this in my imagination. I was sure that these friendlies would be much more competitive than the games last year because this is a lot like real football. I was very unsatisfied last year with our opponents and the tournament, but these fixtures have been even more competitive than I expected. So up until now it has been fantastic.
"It was also great to see so many fans at the stadium, you could tell it made for a better atmosphere from the very start. We also had members of the First Team squad sat in the stands to watch the game, overall it was a great night for support of our team.
"Our next game will be against Stevenage from League Two so our players can get a reality check. Our challenge in that game is to see if we can control our opponent and play our game instead of their game."