Jon De Souza felt Saturday’s win over Bristol City fell below the standard of recent weeks as The Bees wrapped up an eighth win in nine matches with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over The Robins.
Josh Bohui’s goal on the half-hour settled matters against a Bristol City side who have now won only once in ten matches.
It was not the most fluent of Brentford performances against a dogged opposition and on a tricky surface.
Speaking to Bees Player after the match Jon admitted he had been left underwhelmed by the performance, especially given some of the showings in recent weeks.
The Youth Team manager felt The Bees didn’t show the necessary quality to unpick Bristol City’s defence and were fortunate their hosts didn’t capitalise on some good second-half chances.
“I wasn’t pleased today,” said Jon.
“I thought that, at best, we were ok in the first-half and we were poor in the second-half.
“I told the boys at the end that it is great we are top of the league and great that we got the three points but we always look at the performance first.
“I didn’t think the performance was at the level today.
“We lacked care in possession and a little bit of creativity and fluidness in how we played.
“Bristol City worked very hard and were very organised and I don’t think that we created as much as we had in previous weeks.
“Bristol played similarly to Crystal Palace and Swansea City and, in fairness, we opened them up a bit more.
“We lacked a little bit of quality first-half and second-half we lacked a bit of intensity as well as quality.
“With the players on the pitch we should have created more and we should have defended better as well.
“Bristol City had chances to score and they should have scored a couple in the second-half.
“We need to learn to defend better and manage the game better.
“It is good to keep the players on their toes and remind them that we are here to turn them into professional footballers.
“Today their effort was ok, it wasn’t terrific, and their quality was found wanting.
“It shows them that they have a lot of work to do and regardless of where we finish in the league this year the overall aim should be to become a professional footballer.”
Jon handed starts to Under-16s Josh Bohui and Giovanni McGregor for the match against The Robins.
While Josh popped up with the all-important goal Giovanni, who was making his first Youth-Team start, also impressed in the centre of midfield.
Jon was pleased to be able to bring Josh and Giovanni into the starting line-up and give them an early taste of Youth Team football.
A number of the Under-16s have played up this season ahead of becoming scholars next season and Jon thinks getting them used to Under-18s football ahead of time can only help them in the long run.
“It was positive that we have two Under-16s play and that we had another two on the bench who didn’t come on,” said Jon.
“I am pleased with both of them and I thought they did well.
“It is money in the bank for the Under-16s when they play up.
“Josh Bohui has played 10 or so matches this season and today was Giovanni McGregor’s first start.
“It is a good experience for them and hopefully it will stand them in good stead for next season.
“It is a lot easier for them coming into a team that is doing quite well rather than one that is struggling.
“I think it would have been an easier transition for them and the other Under-16s coming in this season.”
The eighth win in nine matches moved Brentford closer to the Under-18 Professional Development League Two South title.
Jon De Souza’s side now need just four points from their remaining two matches to make mathematically certain of the title although Charlton Athletic would need to win all of their last six matches to catch The Bees.
According to Jon winning the league, and then the resulting play-offs, would be a good reward for the work of the team this season but the overall reward remains a first-team contract.
“Winning the league would be a good reward for the season but ultimately the reward is how many players can we get into the Under-21s and the first-team,” said Jon.
“You don’t know the make-up of oppositions so you don’t really know where you individuals stand but it would be a reflection on this team being the best team in the league.
“Today Bristol City had five Under-16s and we had two so we were older than them but other weeks we will be younger than other sides.
“It would be a terrific achievement to win the league and we want to win the league having got this far but the overall aim is to still produce players for the first-team.
“The play-offs will be a good challenge for the boys like the FA Youth Cup.
“If we had lost today or like we did against Colchester United a few weeks ago we would always have another league game to go.
“In the play-off you don’t have that opportunity and we look forward to having that one off game that the players have to try and win.
“We very much try and pick the team on merit in terms of how the players are training and playing.
“Whenever the play-off is we will pick the team that is playing and working the hardest.”