Kalas Loan

I noticed an almost unanimous outpouring of dismay and frustration amongst the Chelsea faithful on Farcebook as they reacted to the news that another Chelsea prodigy is being loaned out. On this occasion, it's the turn of Czech defender Tomas Kalas to go elsewhere and attempt to successfully audition for a return to the Chelsea team once he has had a prolonged stint of first-team football at Koln.

Not surprisingly, a growing number of Chelsea followers are exasperated by the club's policy of shoving our talented young players out on loan, instead of investing faith in them, and gradually easing one or two of them into the matchday squad. It seems to me that Jose Mourinho has set his sights on winning the Champions League (or at least has been instructed to) and he is hugely reluctant to chance his arm in European encounters with inexperienced, rookie players. Of course this produces the age-old quandary about how does someone obtain experience if they are constantly overlooked? At least Carlo Ancelotti wasn't afraid to blood Josh McEachran in a European campaign a few years ago. On the other hand, the talented Kalas should receive ample first-team opportunities in the Bundesliga for Cologne, and if he excels, one would hope that the Chelsea manager next summer (whoever that might be!) will recall the Czech centre half.

Chelsea followers have a right to express their discontent when they've had an encouraging taster of Tomas in the cauldron of Shamfield where he performed exceptionally well. The question that could be raised is that with a successful youth team and under-21 team, what do our youth have to do to persuade Mourinho of their merits? Instead of which, the club will flash silly cash at experienced players, 'with a proven track record', because the management is terrified of taking a punt on up and coming players. Perhaps much of the blame lies with impatient foreign owners who demand instant success, and despite making noises about building a team for the future, are instead preoccupied by short-term thinking. It sounds like a classic case of not being able to see the wood for the trees.

Ominously, the majority of our players who are loaned never enjoy a reunion with the parent club. In all probability, Kakuta, McEachran, Marin, Piazon, Romeu, and even Lukaku, and possibly Thorgan Hazard will never return to the club that peculiarly invested in them. Will the same fate await Tomas? Perhaps the greatest indictment of Chelsea Football Club is that while Everton have enabled Ross Barkley to get into the first team, Chelsea would have elbowed him out to a season-long loan. Similarly, whilst Adnan Januzaj was quickly promoted at Old Trafford, cautious Mourinho would have expelled him 'on loan'. Chelsea supporters would dearly love to see a few of our younger players given serious consideration, instead of most of them being turfed out to another club for a year, because our supremo has no patience in our youth. Shame.