Laurent Blanc has dropped one of France’s talented player, Florent Malouda from the French squad for the upcoming international friendly. Blanc has succeeded the deposed and disgraced Raymond Domenech – the decision to appoint him was taken before the World Cup – and he hopes that the unprecedented move to impose the one-match suspension will also serve to draw a line under a controversy that has seen scorn heaped upon Les Bleus.
Blanc said upon his unveiling as Domenech’s replacement that he would bear no grudge against the 23 players, who collectively went on strike before the final group game against South Africa in protest at the decision of the France Football Federation to expel the striker Nicolas Anelka from the squad, after a furious dressing-room row with Domenech.
Laurent Blanc has dropped one of France’s talented player, Florent Malouda from the French squad for the upcoming international friendly. Blanc has succeeded the deposed and disgraced Raymond Domenech – the decision to appoint him was taken before the World Cup – and he hopes that the unprecedented move to impose the one-match suspension will also serve to draw a line under a controversy that has seen scorn heaped upon Les Bleus.
Blanc said upon his unveiling as Domenech’s replacement that he would bear no grudge against the 23 players, who collectively went on strike before the final group game against South Africa in protest at the decision of the France Football Federation to expel the striker Nicolas Anelka from the squad, after a furious dressing-room row with Domenech.
It was the result of weeks of simmering tensions between the players on one side and Domenech and the French FA on the other and prompted chaos. France lost to South Africa in Bloemfontein to exit the tournament at the bottom of Group A, with one point and one goal, but that was only the beginning. Even the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, became involved in the campaign’s furious post-mortem.
“It is not for me to decide on sanctions,” said Blanc. “I am not the bogeyman. If I consider they are the best players in their position, I will take them.”
His first squad seems certain to include the likes of the Real Madrid duo Lassana Diarra, who missed the World Cup with a stomach problem, and Karim Benzema, who was surprisingly omitted by Domenech. Arsenal’s Samir Nasri will also be expecting to hear from Blanc.
Blanc will turn back to many of the exiled 23 after the friendly in Oslo in time for the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign but he felt that a grand statement had to be made, even if it hardly makes for the ideal start to his employment. He met the French FA today to outline his plans for the future and the governing body said that the player suspension was his idea. They gave it their blessing.
Some of the players have already expressed remorse for their actions and they might be expected to take Blanc’s punishment on the chin. “Going on strike was the decision of a group that felt isolated, that felt no one had protected it and that wanted to get a message across,” said the goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. “We went way too far. It was a clumsy decision, a big mistake. It was totally stupid.
“We all want to restore the image of Les Bleus. I’m not asking for us to win everything, just that we all make an effort, that we give everything. We need to get back to basics, respect for the jersey, for ourselves, our team-mates and the institution that is the France team.”
Lloris , who is expected to stay as No1, added that the players have an obligation “to make sure what happened never happens again”.
The goalkeeper’s Lyon team-mate Jeremy Toulalan previously called for any sanctions to be applied equally to all squad members, telling July 11’s Journal du Dimanche: “There were no ringleaders and no slaves. We were all involved and we are all responsible because nobody said a word [against the boycott].”
Arsenal trio Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy and Abou Diaby, former club-mate William Gallas, and the Chelsea pair Anelka and Florent Malouda are also among the players affected by Blanc’s decision.