Blanc steers France through choppy waters

17 May 2012 03:17

As a player he was known as 'Le President' for his elegance and assurance under pressure and Laurent Blanc has had to call on all his powers of diplomacy during his two-year reign as France coach.

Having inherited a group of players chastened by the humiliating events of the 2010 World Cup, Blanc succeeded in guiding them through qualifying for Euro 2012 and establishing an 18-game unbeaten run in the process.

Germany, Brazil and England are among the teams to have fallen to Blanc's men during that period yet he still remains under pressure.

The thoughtful 46-year-old had hoped that his early successes would earn him a contract extension but he had not accounted for the cautiousness of the French Football Federation.

Wary of another sub-standard performance at a major tournament -- after group-stage exits at Euro 2008 and the last World Cup -- the FFF have told Blanc his contract will only be extended if France reach the quarter-finals.

Blanc has reportedly been approached by both Chelsea and Inter Milan, however, and he has admitted that he will walk away from the national set-up if his contract is not extended and an attractive offer comes his way.

He also had to bite his tongue after failing to persuade France's Professional Football League to bring the Ligue 1 calendar into line with Europe's other major leagues by having it finish on May 13, rather than May 20.

For all that, his commitment to the cause cannot be questioned and he seems determined to see through the project that began when he agreed to succeed the unpopular Raymond Domenech in June 2010.

Continuity has been a key theme in his approach, with the same trusted players recalled time and again, and there was just one surprise inclusion -- Montpellier centre-back Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa -- in his provisional 26-man squad.

"I attach a lot of importance to the squad," he told sports newspaper L'Equipe earlier this month.

"If you listened to people, it'd be enough to pick the best players from each club and put them in the France team.

"They don't have that idea of the squad and they get carried away by the fact they're supporters.

"The time for trials has passed. I will remain faithful to the history of this squad over the past two years."

Blanc has always been attentive to the needs of his players.

At Bordeaux, where he won the 2008-09 French title, he rearranged training sessions to allow the Muslim members of his squad to observe Ramadan.

Shortly after taking charge of France, meanwhile, he sent the words to France's national anthem, La Marseillaise, to the younger members of the squad, so they would not be caught out not singing by television cameras.

Players tend to respond favourably to his enthusiasm for attacking play and supposedly difficult characters such as Philippe Mexes and Karim Benzema have been granted second chances that they have grasped with both hands.

Despite his early successes, Blanc's hard work was seriously undermined when it emerged in April last year that he had supported the introduction of quotas for dual nationality players in French youth academies.

The ensuing row almost cost him his job.

But the fact he emerged relatively unscathed was a mark of the esteem in which he is held by both the French public and the wider football world.

Having won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European championships with France as a player, Blanc has repeatedly sought to emphasise to his squad that international success has no parallel in the career of a player.

He has yet to find a consistent formula for the kind of swashbuckling football he would like to see France play but, despite occasional contrary winds, his rescue mission remains on course.

Source: AFP