Jon De Souza felt that Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Sheffield United was a great learning environment for his players as they let a 2-0 half-time lead slip after being reduced to ten men following the break.
The Bees, looking for a ninth win in ten matches, dominated the first-half and scored twice in the space of three minutes through Makhosini Khanye and Reece Cole.
The complexion of the match changed six minutes into the second-half however as Tyrick Mitchell picked up a second yellow in quick succession to leave The Bees to play the final 40 minutes with ten men.
United pulled one back instantly through Spencer Maw and levelled a quarter of an hour later as Dan Cockerline swept home.
The Blades were then themselves reduced to ten men for the final stages but The Bees couldn’t find a way through to wrap up a sixth straight win.
Speaking to Bees Player after the match Youth Team Manager Jon De Souza admitted he was disappointed that his side let a 2-0 lead slip but said that the more important thing was that his players learned from the experience of playing with ten men.
“I was disappointed but I thought it was a fantastic learning environment for the players,” said Jon.
“We were 2-0 up and comfortable, had a player sent off, and then we struggled to deal with it.
“In the time that I have been here I think it has only been against Sheffield Wednesday and Crewe Alexandra last year that players have been sent off at this level, and we struggled to deal with that.
“It was a different challenge and we have got to learn from it.
“We went down to 10 players and we weren’t good enough.
“I was disappointed with how we finished the first-half but I was very pleased with how we started it.
“We moved the ball well and played it at a decent tempo.
“I thought at 2-0 our level dropped a little bit and, at half-time, I told them to go out and increase their levels again but unfortunately we had a man sent off.
“We changed our shape slightly but I think the players failed to recognise what to do with their extra player.
“There were occasions where we tried to take a throw-in quickly and we were exposed and over-committed.
“I think our players have to realise that it does change the dynamics of the game and I don’t think that we realised those dynamics had changed.
“We talk a lot about passing the ball to create overloads but today the opposition had an overload because they had an extra player.
“We had to be a bit more wary of that but I also think our quality in possession wasn’t good enough.
“We didn’t look after the ball well enough and we didn’t keep the ball well enough and I think that affected our players’ mentality.
“When it got to 2-2 we had a go and then Sheffield United had a man sent off.
“My big disappointment was then when we went down to ten men it went from 2-0 to 2-2 very quickly.”
Jon’s side started with Mitchell, a member of the club’s Under-15s side, at left-back with two more Under-16s in the starting XI.
Giovanni McGregor was appearing in his third consecutive match with Julius Fenn-Evans making his fourth appearance of the season.
With the Under-21s playing at Griffin Park later that afternoon Jon was without a number of his more senior Youth Team players but he was pleased that this game him a chance to blood younger Academy players.
Jon said it is very much a conscious decision of the Academy to look to play people above their age group and thinks that helps them to develop faster as they get used to a higher level of football.
“I don’t think Tyrick Mitchell will forget his Under-18s debut,” said Jon.
“We had Tyrick at left-back who is an Under-15 and Julius Fenn-Evans and Giovanni McGregor who are Under-16s so it was good for those guys to come and play.
“It was Giovanni’s third game in a row today.
“He came on against Cardiff City, started against Bristol City and started again today.
“The idea is to get the players to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
“We are trying to push players on and the players have got to be able to deal with that.
“The ideal is to have our best Under-21s out playing first-team football, like Alfie Mawson is at Wycombe Wanderers, and then everyone else pushing up.”
After Saturday’s draw The Bees travel to Sheffield Wednesday on April 11th for their final Under-18 Professional Development League Two match of the season.
Jon’s side have already booked their spot at the end of season play-offs but will need to wait and see whether they are crowned Champions as Charlton Athletic continue to catch up postponed matches.
The Youth Team manager feels it will be an excellent test for the Youth Team to go into the one-off play-offs especially given their patchy record in cup competitions this season.
The Bees let a 2-0 lead slip to exit the FA Youth Cup 3-2 to Hull City in December before failing to make the finals at the IMG Tournament later that month.
For Jon the pressure of having to perform in one-off games is something that have to get used to if they want to get into the Brentford first-team.
“We have got one league game left in two weeks where we go up to Sheffield Wednesday,” said Jon.
“Hopefully we will put in a good performance and then look forward to the play-offs.
“We will speak to the players about the play-offs being cup football because we went to the FA Youth Cup and failed to win the game there, we went to America which was a one-off tournament and failed to progress there.
“We have been terrific in the league this season but it is great now for the players to go off and play in a one-off game where what happens in that game matters.
“It is difficult to switch that mind-set but in a first-team environment you have to do it.
“Every three points matters for the first-team and they also have the FA Cup and the Capital One Cup.
“If you reach the elite level, where I know Brentford have got ambitions to get to, you might play in Europe and the Champions League.
“It is important that players get used to playing in pressurised environments and a one-off game is as pressurised as it gets.”