Blanc likely to sacrifice Nasri for greater good

Samir Nasri looks like being the fall guy as Laurent Blanc attempts to heal the rifts in the France camp that have reopened old wounds between Les Bleus and their supporters back home.

Blanc has a difficult enough task in trying to overcome Spain, the reigning world and European champions, in their quarter-final tie in Donetsk tonight. He has also had to contend with the sort of dressing room unrest thatderailed France’s 2010 World Cup campaign.

Now, Blanc’s good work in bringing unity and a sense of pride and purpose back to the side looks in danger, after France were beaten 2-0 by Sweden in Kiev on Tuesday, losing their 23-game unbeaten run and top spot in Group D.

The recriminations that followed in the dressing room have dominated France’s every press conference and discussion since then. Midfielder Alou Diarra blamed Nasri for not doing enough for the team as tensions ran high, while Newcastle’s Hatem Ben Arfa complained about not being given enough game time.

Blanc has decided to show strong leadership and Nasri will be the one to suffer most, with sources close to the French camp suggesting he will be dropped against Spain.

“Everyone can say what they like at difficult times, to get things off their chest. But anger and reactions like this are not always good to hear,” Blanc said.

“There is no conflict now. There were some words exchanged and people were very angry after the defeat. I came in late to the situation because of my media commitments after the game. As coaches we tried to calm things down quickly and make sure we did not switch off from the Euros.”

One reason Blanc acted so decisively is that he is painfully aware of the ghosts of South Africa, when the French public became so disillusioned with the team.

“There are a lot of players who still have demons. Everyone recalls what happened at the 2010 World Cup. After two or three raised voices people worry this will happen again. But we have an exciting game coming up so we need to focus quickly on that.”