Laurent Blanc has dropped one of France's talented player, Florent Malouda from the French squad for the upcoming international friendly. Blanc has succeeded the deposed and disgraced Raymond Domenech – the decision to appoint him was taken before the World Cup – and he hopes that the unprecedented move to impose the one-match suspension will also serve to draw a line under a controversy that has seen scorn heaped upon Les Bleus.

Blanc said upon his unveiling as Domenech's replacement that he would bear no grudge against the 23 players, who collectively went on strike before the final group game against South Africa in protest at the decision of the France Football Federation to expel the striker Nicolas Anelka from the squad, after a furious dressing-room row with Domenech.

French Winger Florent Malouda has blamed Raymond Domenech's tactics as the sole reason for the France's failure to get past the group stages. "It's the failure of a system that led to the debacle," Malouda told L'Equipe. "The players who play for Chelsea, Barcelona, (Bayern) Munich or Lyon need a high-level environment to blossom.

"It was difficult for me to accept the way the national team functioned compared to a great club like Chelsea. Every time I was called up to the national team, it was back to negative stories and bad vibes.

"With France, I came to play where I was asked to and that was it. We didn't even try to see the coach to talk about the tactical system, 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.

Chelsea winger Florent Malouda has warned Manchester United that his side are beginning a new era and will continue to improve next year.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men won the Premier League title by one point but in emphatic style, thrashing Wigan Athletic 8-0 on the final day of the season to prevent the Red Devils from winning a fourth successive league.

Malouda insists Chelsea will continue to improve in the coming years and believes the confidence in the team will help them dominate again next season.

Though Chelsea no longer have an interest in this season’s Champions League, winger Florent Malouda has revealed to France Football that he will be keeping a close eye on the semi-finals as he will be cheering on former club Olympique Lyonnais in their bid for success against Bayern Munich.

Malouda insists he is the luckiest man in England (even though he's never won on the scratch cards!) because he is at his dream club. Nonetheless, he still follows his old club's fortunes.

Chelsea winger Florent Malouda believes Arsenal will be the side most under pressure to perform when the two teams meet on Sunday and a defeat for the Gunners will eliminate them from the Premier League title race.

"It's important to make the difference now," he added. "There will be a big pressure on their shoulders."

"There are more twists and turns to come, you saw that again at Hull," Malouda told Paris Sportifs En Ligne. "It is difficult for anybody to win anywhere. That's why I believe if we are tough and persistent in our attitude, we will be rewarded.