Laurent Blanc backs new generation of France players
France manager Laurent Blanc has said that he will continue his efforts to build a new French team for future tournaments.
Blanc, who retired as a player after spending three seasons with Manchester United in 2003, was appointed national team coach after Raymond Domenech's team failed to enter the knock-out stage of this year's World Cup.
"To become [the] France coach is an honour and I have accepted this position with a lot of pride," Blanc, who has 97 international caps to his name.
The 44-year-old took charge of the French team in tumultuous circumstances.
Following the team's World Cup defeat to Mexico, several players boycotted training, leading to the whole World Cup squad being suspended for France's friendly against Norway. Premier League duo Nicolas Anelka and Patrice Evra are still serving bans handed
to them by the French Football Federation.
Two important qualifiers ahead
The French team is under pressure to perform in their upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers against Romania and Luxembourg. France began their qualifying campaign by losing 1–0 to Belarus in Paris before winning 2–0 away to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"I think the defeat against Belarus was very difficult to overcome. Because even though we did not play fantastically, we did not deserve to lose. The players were aware we had made the worst possible start. The players were aware that we already had our
backs against the wall [against Bosnia and Herzegovina]. I think they answered the critics in the best possible way."
Despite the need for results, Blanc said that he will continue to build a French squad comprised of a new generation of players. Among the less experienced names in the current France squad are Yann M'Vila, Benoit Tremoulinas and Mamadou Sakho.
"When there's a transitional problem, there's often a generational problem. We are trying to start again with a new generation, with some good players, who are not yet great players."
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