Malouda hopeful France can recover

France midfielder Florent Malouda is hoping the appointment of Laurent Blanc can restore Les Bleus' credibility.

It follows the team's exit at the group stage in South Africa with just one point and one goal to their name, a bust-up involving Nicolas Anelka and former coach Raymond Domenech which resulted in the Chelsea striker being expelled from the camp and a subsequent strike by the rest of the squad in protest at Anelka's expulsion.

Blanc's appointment had already been confirmed before the World Cup finals and Chelsea midfielder Malouda is optimistic he can get them back on the right track.

"I really hope and I think all the French now really hope that he [Laurent Blanc] can turn things in a positive way," he told Sky Sports News.

"There's a lot of expectation.

"People are aware it's going to be difficult but we need that - the nation needs that. So I hope he's going to be the man of the situation and will have everybody's help."

Looking back on the chaos in South Africa, and in particular the idea to boycott training, he added: "We were in a state of mind where we were reacting to something but it was the wrong decision.

"It was a big disaster and we are thinking about the future.

"It was like we didn't know how to get the results.

"We didn't know how to work on the confidence because there was a loss of confidence on the pitch. We were trying to find a solution but we didn't know where to start.

"To get the results you have to restore the confidence - the confidence in the manager, the confidence in the work you're putting in in training."