Tensions are creeping into the France camp, with the players involved in a "heated" bust-up after their 2-0 defeat by Sweden and Chelsea's Florent Malouda, dropped after the opening draw with England, has been among the most outspoken.

France, who were hit by internal strife at the 2010 World Cup, capitulated against the Swedes on Tuesday and would have lost more heavily if the goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had not made several saves.

Although the defeat did not prevent them from advancing to a quarter-final against Spain, the manner of it exasperated the coach, Laurent Blanc, and senior players such as Malouda.

"Yes, it got a bit heated, but then everyone had a cold shower," Blanc said. "It shows that there was a bit of electricity. I hope there will be against Spain, because we'll need it."

Malouda chose not to speak to the media after the defeat as he was afraid of what he might say. He is France's most experienced player and was part of the World Cup squad that shocked a nation by going on strike at training two years ago after Nicolas Anelka was sent home.

"What I saw awoke some demons in me and I didn't want to express myself," he said. "Because in the heat of the moment there was the risk of launching rockets and missiles. There are some things to sort out and sometimes you can really hurt someone with a comment that you make."

But with tempers frayed and pride dented after a shambolic performance against a Sweden team with nothing to play for, some of the players could not hold back when they got to the sanctuary of the dressing room.

Of the dressing room disagreement he said: "Sometimes you need to aim a few bursts of gunfire at each other .

"We said quite a few things to each other in the changing room, which is a good thing as it's proof that we have temperament and character.

"Balance is fragile and when you start thinking you're at the Euro to shine individually then the wheels can start to come off. You pay very dearly for every error at a Euro. There's personal objectives and then there are collective objectives."

The possible target of those comments was the Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri, no stranger to squad bickering after his infamous fall-out with his former Arsenal and France team-mate William Gallas. Malouda made clear reference to Nasri, and also suggested that France were heading for a hiding in their quarter-final against Spain on Saturday night if they did not improve on Tuesday's display.

"In modern football and especially against Spain, who have an extraordinary control of the ball, you have to run a lot but you also have to be disciplined. They create space and they make such intelligent runs that they will find a weakness.

"It's difficult to point fingers at people after a defeat in terms of how they played or their personal objectives. Samir's way of playing hasn't changed overnight but that's also one of his qualities. He scored an important goal against England. But as an experienced player I can say that there is a balance to be found between the team and your personal objectives.

"But it's in these moments that you shouldn't point the finger at people, it's at times like this that you really need to have a discussion between the players. If we don't sort things out before Saturday, with the opponent that's coming up, the defeat could be heavy."

Malouda was overlooked in favour of Jérémy Ménez, who scored in the win over Ukraine, but was then replaced by Hatem Ben Arfa in the defeat to Sweden.

"I will keep my feelings to myself but of course I was disappointed to be dropped after the England game," added Malouda. "I can bring things to this team, so of course I'm disappointed because I think I have my place in this team.

"It's more in terms of the attitude that you give off and what you bring to this team. It's a top tournament and if we had shown the same attitude as the Swedes we wouldn't have woken up with a hangover. We weren't up to it in terms of our attitude. This is one of the things we have to correct.

'We're not here to take a stroll in our flip-flops. We're here to play matches and win them. In terms of commitment you can't go below a certain level. If we get back to old ways we go backwards. You have to be demanding at this level. Every player has to think about yesterday's game and take things on board, it's not up to the coach or one player to say something that switches everyone else on."

The Arsenal centre-half Laurent Koscielny, who will replace the suspended Philippe Mexès against Spain, confirmed that an argument took place. "We were below par on every level," Koscielny said. "When we got back to the dressing room we knew we hadn't performed as we should have done and some things were said … things that will stay between us."