Youth Team manager Jon De Souza believes that the disappointment of Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat to Charlton Athletic must be used as a learning tool to get Brentford’s Youth Team players nearer to first-team football.
In front of a crowd of around 700 at Griffin Park The Addicks scored the all-important goal just five minutes in as Joshua Umerah fired past Nik Tzanev from a tight angle.
Brentford responded well in the second-half but couldn’t find a way through the massed ranks of Charlton defenders as the visitors held on to secure a league and play-off double, having pipped Brentford to the league title on the final day of the season.
Speaking to Bees Player after the match Jon felt that a few of his players seemed to be affected by the occasion.
With the ultimate aim to get players into the first-team Jon said that those nerves, and the defeat in general, could be turned into a positive if it helps the boys to understand what it takes to become a professional footballer.
“We have played against teams similar to Charlton in regular games and it is hard to break teams down,” said Jon.
“With the occasion and it being a final I think that added a little bit more pressure on the boys.
“They were a little bit cautious in possession.
“It is the individuals that we need to look at and progress into our first team.
“We will review the players who have done well and the players who might need a little bit of help.
“Ultimately if the players were nervous tonight they would be nervous in their first-team debut.
“Hopefully tonight is another stepping stone and challenge that means when they get in the first-team they are less nervous.
“The big thing for us is that has got them one step closer to the first-team.
“Some of the players were nervous, some of the players were cautious in possession and you would rather they made mistakes now so that when they make their first-team debuts they are ready to deal with those pressures.
“The first-team are going into a Play-Off Semi-Final on Friday night that is worth £150 million to the club and our players need to have enough about them to go into those pressurised environments and perform at the right level.
“The boys have done terrifically well this season and now they face another challenge in their development.
“They now have to kick on and take the next step with the Under-21s, Under-18s or, even for some of them, with the First-Team.
“They have to be able to step up because Academy football is all about getting players ready for the first-team so that if and when they are called upon they can do a job properly.”
Brentford had won both previous meetings between the two sides ahead of Tuesday’s final but they fell behind in the sixth minute as Umerah, Charlton’s top scorer this season, controlled, turned and shot past the un-set Tzanev in the Brentford goal.
The visitors dominated the early stages but Brentford began to come into the match as the half wore on and bossed the second period.
Try as they might Jon De Souza’s side couldn’t find a way through in the final stages with James Ferry, Zain Westbrooke and Seth Owens all going close.
Jon said he has no complaints about the effort that the boys put in to winning the game but he felt his side could have expressed themselves better in possession and given Charlton more problems to contend with.
“I can’t fault the boys’ effort, that was never in question, but we really wanted to show how much quality that we have got in the group,” said Jon.
“We didn’t do that tonight, especially in the first-half.
“We were a little bit slow and a little bit safe.
“We knew how they were going to play and them scoring the early goal made it more difficult to play and to break them down.
“It was difficult to find ways round them and I don’t think we were inventive enough or quick enough to really try and break them down.
“It is hard to break down but I felt our players needed to play with a little bit more freedom and a little bit more risk.
“It is difficult because Charlton took the lead and dropped off.
“They wanted to invite forward passes and then play on the counter when they nicked it.
“Our players were a little bit nervous to play forwards and a little bit nervous to play quick because if they gave it away they would be defending our goal.
“That is football and the way we want to play, the first-team wants to play and the owner wants to play we have got to take those risks.
“It did get better in the second-half.
“We asked them to free themselves up a bit more and try to break lines with runs, passes and dribbles.
“We wanted to end up the other side of Charlton because a lot of play happened in front of them.
“We got better at it but I don’t think we did well at it throughout the game.
“They got deeper and deeper as the game went on so they were in a mentality of defending not attacking.
“I felt if we could have scored one we would have gone on to win the game.”
Tuesday night’s match was watched by around 700 fans at Griffin Park with many more watching the game through a live stream.
Despite the disappointing result Jon felt it was good for the Academy as a whole to have this big set-piece occasion as a reward for the hard work of everyone throughout the set-up.
“This occasion is a credit to everyone at the Academy,” said Jon.
“It has come through hard work from so many different people and departments.
“There is the coaching staff like Stuart English, Gabriel Flores and Azeez Akinbolu who work with our Under-9s upwards and the medical department and everyone else.
“It is quite a big organisation and everybody works extremely hard so it is good for everyone to see the rewards of what we are trying to do.
“Hopefully this group of players will kick on into our first-team soon.”