The former French international saw his side taken apart by the English Premier League outfit in London, but revealed the post-defeat atmosphere was less alarming than he had feared.

"I had predicted it would be hard for much longer than it has proved," said Blanc, who said he was drawing on his own experience as a player to try and revive his team's morale ahead of their match at Grenoble this weekend.

"The problem isn't a physical one, nor tactical, but rather of a mental nature," said the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winner. "That makes it difficult to find and even more so to resolve."