Jon De Souza blasted his side’s defending as they fell to a 4-2 defeat in their opening Under-21 Professional Development League Two South game of the season against Crewe Alexandra.
The game was only three minutes old when Brad Inman seized on a loose pass to put the hosts 1-0 ahead.
Last season’s League Two National champions had plenty of chances to extend their lead but were thwarted on many occasions by the impressive Jack Bonham.
Josh Clarke equalised on the stroke of half-time for The Bees and a Jermaine Udumaga goal put Jon De Souza’s side 2-1 up with a quarter of the game to go.
However, Brentford’s defensive lapses came back to haunt them as Inman grabbed his second before George Cooper and Callum Saunders scored to make the result safe for Crewe.
Speaking to Bees Player after the match Jon said that his side must learn quickly from the defensive errors which cost them the game.
“I was disappointed overall,” said Jon.
“My biggest disappointment is that I didn’t think we made them work hard enough for their goals.
“Their second goal was a good goal but the other three we almost hand wrapped for them.
“That is the real disappointment because at this level you can’t give teams three chances and three goals.
“They scored after three minutes on the back of poor decisions and all of a sudden you are 1-0 down.
“In the last 15-20 minutes our players made poor decisions in the wrong areas and we were punished.
“I thought we started very poorly, our shape in midfield and as a back four, wasn’t good enough.
“The way we play, and the way that the First-Team play, is very expansive and very brave.
“We try to play attacking football but when you give the football away you have to get back into shape quicker.
“Our players didn’t do that unfortunately.
“We want to dominate possession and impose our style on the game but we failed to do that for a long enough period.
“If you don’t dominate then you have to be prepared react quickly and defend on the counter.
“Our next game is on the 1st September so we will be back on the training pitch and working hard.”
Having been completely out-played in the opening 45 minutes Jon’s side were fortunate to come in level as Clarke’s powerful shot beat Scott Shearer at his near post.
After the break Jon’s side were the better side and deserved to take the lead with 20 minutes to go through Jermaine Udumaga.
Jon thought it was a huge psychological boost for his side to come in level and he was pleased with the way that they started the second-half, putting into action what had been spoken about at half-time.
“We were delighted to come in at half-time because if we had come in three or four down it wouldn’t have been unfair,” said Jon.
“I was delighted we scored just before half-time and we came in at 1-1.
“Whenever we gave the football away we looked likely to concede.
“I tried to address that at half-time and I think the players took it on board and took it on board well.
“I thought Jack Bonham was excellent throughout the game and in that first-half especially he kept the score right down.
“The players took the message on board and started the second-half very well.
“Up until we conceded the second goal I thought we were on top of the game.
“As the second-half progressed we started to get on top of the game and dominate it.
“We got in front and, up until their second-goal, it looked like we were going to go on and win the game comfortably.”
With the noon kick-off making travelling on the day to the match impossible, Jon and his team stayed in Crewe overnight ahead of the game.
For a number of the squad it was their first overnight stay ahead of the competitive match.
Jon thinks the experience as a whole was worthwhile but said his players must realise that there is a job to be done when they come to these away games and put in the right performances.
“I think they enjoyed the trip,” said Jon.
“We went to watch Crewe’s First-Team last night and it was a good environment for them to watch that.
“Overall it was a good trip.
“I think the boys need to realise that you make these trips to win games of football not to have a good time.
“As much as it is a learning environment it is about three points as well.”