After a devastating performance for the French National Soccer team in South Africa, they’ve appointed a new coach. Laurent Blanc will now be the man in charge in bringing this squad back to the powerhouse they once were.

He’s started out by making big changes. He’s dropped the entire 23-man roster that was in South Africa for his first game as coach.

Coach Laurent Blanc has support from the French Federation and they’re behind him as he drops these 23 players. They were embarrassed as a nation and they’re teaching the players a lesson. Well, that’s the idea!

This power move shows the players whose boss. France couldn’t even win a game in the group stage, but to make matters worse the team went on strike while in South Africa. For a team to protest and refuse to practice is a disgrace.

Blanc has a lot of work to do before their friendly match vs. Norway on 8/11. He must select an entire new squad. This is in preparation for the European Championship as they must change things around. Their previous performance at the Euro Championship was also a disgrace as they failed to win a game.

So where did it go wrong for France? I’m sure it had something to do with their attitudes, not only on the pitch, but more so off the pitch. One of the major turning points in South Africa was when Anelka bursted out publicly about the former coach. They were down 0-2 to Mexico and I’m sure he was frustrated. Newspapers took all the frustration and made matters worse.

It was after this match that Anelka was sent home. Then things got worse once again. Patrice Evra got caught in a situation with their fitness manager. This was also caught on live TV, which was terrible publicity for him and the team. He’s meant to be a leader as he was appointed team captain. After Anelka was sent home, the French team protested and refused to practice.

These problems caused concern for many leaders of France. The President was concerned, amongst several other political leaders. Past legendary players even spoke out and one mentioned that Evra should be banned from International football. Blanc clearly has a lot of work to do and deal with drama off the field as well. He’s a great selection to make the changes and it seems he’s starting right away.

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