Blanc searching for team psychologist
PARIS, Oct 2 (Reuters) - France, who suffered a humiliating exit at this year's World Cup, are looking for a psychologist to help bring the national team out of its downward spiral, new coach Laurent Blanc was quoted on Saturday as saying.
"I'm looking for a psychologist for the French team," he told Le Journal du Dimanche in a preview of Sunday's edition. "We need someone that can meet the players in their clubs."
The former Bordeaux coach also said Les Bleus had enough quality to once again become a top team.
"We can easily return into the top five but it's easier to keep on crashing rather than moving up... we've got good players, but don't have great players that are always first on their club team sheets," he added.
Blanc, a prominent member of France's 1998 World Cup-winning squad, took over from Raymond Domenech after they were knocked out of the finals in South Africa and has since seen his team fall to 27th, its lowest ever FIFA ranking.
He has the task of rebuilding confidence and restoring pride in a squad still reeling from an ugly spat between players and management at the tournament.
France's Euro 2012 qualifying campaign got off to a poor start with a surprise 1-0 home defeat by Belarus but they recovered to beat Bosnia 2-0 in Sarajevo in their second match.
They face Romania and Luxembourg in their next Euro qualifiers next week.
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