Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says Laurent Blanc has been brave to take on the France job.

Since the World Cup, the former Bordeaux coach has had to deal with the fall-out from that episode with Jeremy Toulalan, Patrice Evra and Franck Ribery receiving bans of various lengths. Striker Anelka was handed an 18-match ban which effectively ended his international career.

And Wenger told L'Equipe: "It is brave of him to have rushed into this adventure. He knows what's going on inside.

"His philosophy of play is positive. He is surrounded with people like (assistant coach) Jean-Louis Gasset, for example."

France have made a slow start to life under Blanc, losing a friendly against Norway and suffering a 1-0 defeat in their opening Euro 2012 qualifier against Belarus in Paris, although they bounced back with a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Wenger reckons the biggest hurdle Blanc will have to overcome is restoring the confidence of the French players and public.

"His real handicap is the deteriorated level of confidence in French football," he said.