Arsenal too predictable, says Bergkamp

Arsenal great Dennis Bergkamp has criticised the current Gunners side, labelling them one-dimensional and lacking in character.
The north London side have failed to win a trophy since Bergkamp's departure in 2006 and are battling to qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League.
The Dutchman stopped short of criticising former boss Arsene Wenger for the team's decline, but admitted the current crop at Emirates Stadium pales in comparison with the famed squad which won the club's last league title in 2004.
"I feel there are a lot of similar players there at the moment," Bergkamp told the Telegraph. "It needs to be more diverse."
"You need a few strong characters who can get the team going, in training as well as matches. You also need a few players who can make a difference in terms of scoring goals. I don't feel there are enough of them."
"You look at the midfield and compare it with ours. We had Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires, Ray Parlour – when it wasn't working for one of the big names, one of these could step up."
Arsenal have depended largely on captain Robin Van Persie for goals this season, and Bergkamp believes it is not healthy for any team to be so reliant on an individual.

"You can't only depend on one or two players," he added. "When they're having an off day, you need someone else."

Spain top FIFA rankings, Germany move second

World and European champions Spain remain atop the FIFA world rankings, while Germany have leapfrogged the Netherlands into second.
Fellow European heavyweights Portugal and Italy moved up one spot each to sixth and eighth respectively, while Denmark also climbed one place to push Argentina down to 11th.
The changes mean Uruguay (fourth) and Brazil (seventh) are the only non-European nations in the top 10. England (fifth) and Croatia (ninth) are the other teams in the top 10.
FIFA said the changes were due to the devaluation of matches from previous years, as none of the major European and South American countries in the top 10 played a match in the last month.
Elsewhere, Zambia's victorious Africa Cup of Nations campaign saw them soar 28 places to 43rd, making them the African continent's fourth highest ranked nation.

Ivory Coast, who lost Sunday's Afcon final in a penalty shoot-out, remain Africa's highest-ranked team at 15th.

Spain top FIFA rankings, Germany move second

World and European champions Spain remain atop the FIFA world rankings, while Germany have leapfrogged the Netherlands into second.
Fellow European heavyweights Portugal and Italy moved up one spot each to sixth and eighth respectively, while Denmark also climbed one place to push Argentina down to 11th.
The changes mean Uruguay (fourth) and Brazil (seventh) are the only non-European nations in the top 10. England (fifth) and Croatia (ninth) are the other teams in the top 10.
FIFA said the changes were due to the devaluation of matches from previous years, as none of the major European and South American countries in the top 10 played a match in the last month.
Elsewhere, Zambia's victorious Africa Cup of Nations campaign saw them soar 28 places to 43rd, making them the African continent's fourth highest ranked nation.

Ivory Coast, who lost Sunday's Afcon final in a penalty shoot-out, remain Africa's highest-ranked team at 15th.

Championship wrap: West Ham, Southampton draw

West Ham United held on to top spot in the Championship after a 1-1 draw with Southampton, while Cardiff City moved into third.
Sam Allardyce's West Ham played most of the top-of-the-table encounter with 10 men, but maintained their one-point advantage at the summit with the draw.
In a chaotic few minutes, Matt Taylor was sent off following a clash with Billy Sharp, which came after the hosts were awarded a penalty at Upton Park.
Captain Mark Noble stepped up and converted the 21st-minute spot-kick, but Southampton equalised in the second half when Dutchman Jos Hooiveld scored in the 75th minute.
Meanwhile, Cardiff City moved to within three points of second-placed Southampton with a 3-1 win at home over Peterborough United.
Midfielder Peter Whittingham scored directly from a corner, Rudy Gestede netted a header and teenager Haris Vuckic, on loan from Newcastle United, was also on the scoresheet as the Welsh side took a three-goal lead into the break.
Striker Paul Taylor struck a stoppage-time consolation for the visitors as promotion contenders Cardiff ended a three-game winless run.
Coventry City moved off the bottom as Gary McSheffrey's two penalties led them to a surprise 2-1 win over Leeds United.
Birmingham City extended their unbeaten league run to 10 matches after a lacklustre 0-0 draw at home to Hull City, while Gary Taylor-Fletcher's brace helped Blackpool move into fourth courtesy of a 3-1 win at lowly Doncaster Rovers.
Strugglers Bristol City salvaged a point as Brett Pitman's late double saw them secure a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace, while Noel Hunt hit the winner in Reading's 1-0 victory at Derby County.
Middlesbrough held on with 10 men to secure their first league win of 2012 with a 2-1 victory at home against Nottingham Forest, while Craig Forsyth's 80th-minute goal saw Watford to a 3-2 win against Leicester City.

Elsewhere, Brighton and Hove Albion remain unbeaten this year after a 2-2 draw at home to Millwall, Michael Chopra scored the winner in Ipswich Town's 1-0 win at Portsmouth and Burnley overcame Barnsley 2-0.

Ancelotti keen to avenge Dijon defeat

Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti is looking for revenge when his side travel to Dijon in the Coupe de France on Wednesday.
Ancelotti's team, then under the control of Antoine Kombouare, lost 3-2 to PSG in their last meeting in the French League Cup in October.
Although it is expected Ancelotti will rest several key players for the round-of-16 clash, the Italian said revenge is firmly on his mind.
"Today, the priority is the French Cup," Ancelotti said. "This Wednesday, we will play against Dijon. We want to win. Dijon beat PSG in the League Cup. We want to make up for this."
"The French Cup is important. The chance to play at the Stade de France is a big motivation."
PSG have a one-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 and will be hoping to extend that when they play second-placed Montpellier on Sunday.
"We have time to recover before playing Montpellier on Sunday. We have four days to recover so it's not a problem," Ancelotti said.
The coach said the battle for places in his starting XI is heating up, and claimed this is a positive for the side.
"I think the players must realise that there is a big competition among them," he said.

"We have 24 players. I have to make choices every game. I can understand the frustration of many players who don't play. I think it's normal. But the players must understand that competition is good for the team. It creates motivation."

Thompson in line for early return 15 February 2012

Melbourne Heart midfielder Matt Thompson says he is a '50-50' chance to return from injury to face Gold Coast United on Friday.
Thompson, 29, has been sidelined with a knee injury suffered in Heart's 3-1 loss to the Wellington Phoenix on January 29.
While initially expected to miss at least a month, Thompson could make a surprise return to the Heart line-up as they aim to end a run of eight matches without a win.
"It's progressing pretty good. I had a session with the fitness coach (Tom Reddin) on Saturday, the day the boys were playing, and surprisingly I pulled up pretty well," the Heart vice-captain said on Wednesday.
"We're still 50-50 for this week, but at worst I think I'll definitely be back the week after."
Without Thompson and captain Fred, as well as Australian under-23 representatives Mate Dugandzic, Aziz Behich and Jason Hoffman, Heart have slipped to sixth on the A-League table.
John van 't Schip's men suffered a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of the Newcastle Jets on Saturday, and Thompson said he was disappointed his team were unable to build on the performance they produced in a 0-0 draw against Melbourne Victory a week earlier.
"I thought the Victory game was promising, we created some great chances and probably deserved to win there," he said.
"It's unfortunate that we probably didn't continue that form and we were pretty disappointing against Newcastle. I thought Newcastle played quite well and we just sort of never really got in the game."
With matches against the top three - Central Coast Mariners, Brisbane Roar and Wellington Phoenix - to follow the Gold Coast outing, Friday's clash shapes as a must-win for the Heart.
Thompson said his team needed to get back to basics in order to end their winless run.
"When we went through that (undefeated) run, we were tough to beat. We were compact and making it hard for teams to create opportunities, but we seem to be slipping in that department at the moment," he said.

"I think if we get back to the basics, stick together and work as a unit then we'll get back to those winning ways."

Garde: We wanted more goals

Lyon boss Remi Garde hopes his team will not regret only netting once in their 1-0 Champions League win at home over APOEL on Tuesday.
A stubborn and defensive APOEL held firm for most of the round-of-16 first-leg clash at Stade de Gerland, but Alexandre Lacazette's deflected 58th-minute effort proved to be enough for the hosts.
Despite taking an advantage into the second leg - to be played in Nicosia on March 7 - Garde fears only scoring once at home could cost his side.
"The game went as we expected. We tried to dictate the pace and tried to ensure we didn't concede an away goal," Garde said.
"We would have liked to score more goals - hopefully we won't regret that in the second leg."
"They will have to come at us, which will give us chances on the counter-attack. We'll need to be strong mentally and make sure we are prepared."
After struggling to break down the visitors' defence, Lyon went ahead when Lacazette, given a surprise start, struck.
Garde believes his team still have work to do in the tie and said they lacked energy in the second half.
"We lacked freshness in the second half. We needed a bit of a boost to keep up the tempo of the first half," he said.
"My squad is at full steam, I can change things round from one match to another and I'll keep doing so."
"We're just at half-time of our tie - nothing is settled yet."
Cypriots APOEL rarely threatened in an attacking sense, and were without a shot on goal until the dying stages of the encounter.
APOEL coach Ivan Jovanovic said he was happy with the result, but added it was far from his team's best performance.
"We are actually quite satisfied with the result. We have played better than we did tonight but often your performance is affected by your opponents, too," the Serbian said.

"They were strong, worked hard and did not allow us to play our normal game."