German forward Lukas Podolski, who has been linked consistently with Arsenal in recent weeks, has chosen to focus on his future in the Bundesliga rather than talking up a move to the English top flight.

The 26-year old Podolski appeared on Arsenal's radar in this month's transfer window after disagreements with FC Cologne's management late last year.

That's Jose after last night's Clasico, hanging out in the Camp Nou parking lot next to the referee's car. He's not waiting to tell him how much he enjoyed his performance or beg him for the maker of his cologne, I can tell you that much.

Google Translate can do the rest.

Welcome to Offbeat Wednesday, where we cover the wacky and gossipy side of football! In today's edition, read about Lukas Podolski's second car accident, David Beckham's new editorial, Luca Toni's fatherly pride and Sara Carbonero!

We kick things off with David Beckham's new editorial spread in Men's Health magazine!

Welcome to Offbeat Wednesday, where we bring you the wacky and pinky side of football. Today, read about Irina Shayk turning down 'Playboy', Neymar's Singing Antics, Podolski's Future and Granero's Miami Escapade.

The world's most favourite footballer to hate, Cristiano Ronaldo, recently visited Dubai with his namorada, Irina Shayk.

Although Arsene Wenger has publicly declared that Arsenal are not in the market for the Cologne striker Lukas Podolski, the Arsenal rumour mill still suggests that he is making the prolific Koln striker his favoured option to replace Robin Van Persie next summer. Podolski's agent, Kon Schramm, has made it clear that he won't be [.

Reports have emerged this morning claiming that the German international striker Lukas Podolski is keen on quitting Bundesliga side FC Cologne to join Arsenal. The reports coming out of Germany further claim that the former Bayern Munich hitman has fallen out with Cologne's director of Sport, Volker Finke, according to the Mirror.

With Liverpool in obvious need for a proven striker, especially with Suarez facing an eight-match ban in the near future, one possibility is German hitman Lukas Podolski.
The Polish native is playing for German side Cologne and has scored 14 goals in 15 appearances already this season.
He has also scored 43 goals in 95 games for his adopted Country, Germany in the past few years.

Na tactics can compensate for individual mistakes. Bayern's 3-0 win over Cologne was rich in absurdity. Ribery blew a fuse. The match ball blew out. Cologne blew a one man advantage. You could add Solbakken's one-off idea to bring back the five man backline to this list. Except, that it actually worked out pretty well to frustrate Bayern most of the time.

Jury member Sylvie van der Vaart shook her bouncy bob in between filming the 2nd Semi Final of 'Das Supertalent' (German talent show) 10.12.2011 in Cologne. Image Credit: Peter Wafzig/Getty Images Europe.

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Editor's note: At the end of the 2010 season, we posted a series of season reviews of every Philadelphia Union player. Over the next several weeks PSP continues with a review of the 2011 season.

Faryd Mondragon looked like the answer in 2011.

Wigan away tomorrow and a 7am start from Sussex. The full horror of the 3-2 defeat a couple of seasons back still haunts me but we must travel with confidence although they did win last week so will be about as buoyant aas they could be when the face us. Great.

We managed a 2-2 draw last term and AW has had his say ahead of the Premier League encounter at the DW/JJB/ASBO Stadium and he has reflected on recent results going ginto tomorrow's game.

Wigan away tomorrow and a 7am start from Sussex. The full horror of the 3-2 defeat a couple of seasons back still haunts me but we must travel with confidence although they did win last week so will be about as buoyant aas they could be when the face us. Great.

We managed a 2-2 draw last term and AW has had his say ahead of the Premier League encounter at the DW/JJB/ASBO Stadium and he has reflected on recent results going ginto tomorrow's game.

Wigan away tomorrow and a 7am start from Sussex. The full horror of the 3-2 defeat a couple of seasons back still haunts me but we must travel with confidence although they did win last week so will be about as buoyant aas they could be when the face us. Great.

We managed a 2-2 draw last term and AW has had his say ahead of the Premier League encounter at the DW/JJB/ASBO Stadium and he has reflected on recent results going ginto tomorrow's game.

German striker Lukas Podolski is being linked with Arsenal (again?) after the English club sent scouts to the Cologne star's match against Borussia Monchengladbach.

Podolski is thought to fit the mold of a partner for Robin van Persie to help tempt the goal-scoring Dutchman to stick around.

We hate to be the bearer of sad news, but this 1-year-old girl suffered the worst bruises (and possibly a bone crack above her nose) in the car accident involving Germany's Lukas Podolski in Cologne two days ago. There is some controversy involved as the child's mother, Ulrike, has accused Lukas of being ignorant (which is pretty unfair to the striker, to be honest!

Schoolboy attacking There are not too many professions where key strategic decisions are made on the basis of the outcome of a playground game of chance. Just football and investment banking. Borussia Monchengladbach duo Marco Reus and Mike Hanke couldn't decide who should take a free-kick against Cologne, so they resorted the international argument settler [.

Schoolboy attacking There are not too many professions where key strategic decisions are made on the basis of the outcome of a playground game of chance. Just football and investment banking. Borussia Monchengladbach duo Marco Reus and Mike Hanke couldn't decide who should take a free-kick against Cologne, so they resorted the international argument settler [.

Germany's Lukas Podolski was involved in a traffic accident yesterday, which left his car in such a bad state that it needed to be towed. Poor Poldi?! Absolutely not.

The family of three sitting in the wagon he accidentally rammed into at the traffic light had to be be admitted to a hospital.

Serie A on Fox Soccer: Udinese - Roma at 2:30pm. Bundesliga on ESPN Deportes: Cologne - Borussia Moenchengladbach at 2:30pm. All Times Eastern.

Ref saved by assistants The Bundesliga match between Cologne and Mainz had to be called off at the weekend after the referee attempted to take his own life hours before kick-off. Babak Rafati was due to officiate the game and was expected to meet with the other match officals at 1.30pm. The assistant referees and [.

Referee Babak Rafati suicide attempt (Selbstmord)- Bundesliga Cologne Mainz game postponed is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Referee Babak Rafati suicide attempt (Selbstmord)- Bundesliga Cologne Mainz game postponed is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter The German Bundesliga game between Cologne ( Koln) and FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday, November 19, 2011 was postponed after referee Babak Rafati attempted suicide in the lead up to the fixture.

Before i get into the main story of this post, focus must be drawn to the most unexpected result of the weekend. Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich suffered a shock 1-0 home loss to second place Borussia Dortmund yesterday.

The loss means that Bayern's 2 closest challengers for the Bundesliga crown Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mochengladbach remain only 2 points behind them in the title chase.

Cologne and Mainz top flight Bundesliga game was called after 41 year old Banker Babak Rafati who had been due to referee the tie attempted suicide in his Hotel room.

Rafati's assistants new there was something a miss when the referee of over 200 top flight games including Champions League ties was unusually late and not answering his phone.

Bayern home games have a fascination of their own. For the past couple of seasons I developed the habit of watching the first half of a FC Barcelona game to cap off a hectic and unpredictable day of Bundesliga action. I did it less for the uncertainty of the result, but the uncertainty of how many goals Barca could score before the break.

Poor Michael Rensing. Alone, abandoned, faced with an onslaught of yellow players, bravely keeping the scoreline down to five. The only Cologne player who cared to show up on Saturday. Scenes from a goalkeeper's worst nightmare, or wet dream, depending on where you rate him on the Mad German Goalkeeper™ scale of one to ten.

Borussia BVB Dortmund vs Koln 5-0 Highlights Video Goals Lewandowski is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Borussia BVB Dortmund vs Koln 5-0 Highlights Video Goals Lewandowski is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Dortmund vs Koln 2011 ( BVB vs Cologne 2011) Score and result:- Dortmund vs Koln 5-0 ( Kagawa, Schmelzer, Lewandowski*2, Kehl) Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund- Germany- 22th October, 2011 Dortmund continue their recent revival [.

Saturday EPL on ESPN2: Wolverhampton - Swansea at 7:30am. Fox Soccer has Newcastle - Wigan at 9:30am, Liverpool - Norwich at 12:30pm, and Bolton, Sunderland at 5pm. Aston Villa - WBA is on Fox Soccer Plus at 9:30am. Championship on Fox Soccer Plus: Reading - Southampton at 2pm and Blackpool - Nottingham Forest at 4pm.

Posiciones Bundesliga 2011/2012 Fecha 9
Enlace
Ps. Equipo JJ G E P GA GP DF Pts. 1 Bayern M. 9 7 1 1 25 1 24 22 2 Borussia M. 9 5 2 2 11 6 5 17 3 B. Dortmund 9 5 1 3 15 7 8 16 4 Stuttgart 9 5 1 3 14 6 8 16 5 Werder Bremen 9 5 1 3 16 12 4 16 6 Schalke 04 9 5 0 4 18 15 3 15 7 Hannover 96 9 4 3 2 11 12 -1 15 8 B.

Moving to the United States has definitely lowered David Beckham's worldwide football appeal, but the former Manchester United midfielder has found his feet in Hollywood. In his latest American adventure, one of the world's most recognizable athletes went undercover as a Target employee on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, a daytime comedy talk show.

• Schalke fans gave Manuel Neuer a warm and cozy welcome. (Dirty Tackle)
• Tommy George spent a weekend of football in Berlin... (In Bed With Maradona)
• ...where Patrick Ebert learned to control his madness. (Deutsche Welle)
• Dortmund woke up in a harsh post-Championship reality.

The Bundesliga was on its' worst behavior ever. According to the referees, who dished out a league record 5 straight red cards. Tim Wiese kicked off proceedings with a foul outside the box, following one of his kamikaze excursions. He equalled Oliver Kahn's 3 career total red cards in the Bundesliga and is only two away from Jens Lehmann's five red cards.

I can't say I've ever seen David Beckham on a sports talk show pimping MLS or soccer in America, but he seems to be a regular on the Ellen Show now. Here's his latest non-soccer related bit on the Ellen Show. Thanks to Godman for alerting me to this video.

I can't say I've ever seen David Beckham on a sports talk show pimping MLS or soccer in America, but he seems to be a regular on the Ellen Show now. Here's his latest non-soccer related bit on the Ellen Show. Thanks to Godman for alerting me to this video.

Four European football games, three different countries, two English munts and a beer bike Standard Liege v Helsingborgs (18:08:11)Roda JC v Waalwijk (19:08:11)FC Cologne v Kaiserslauten (20:08:11)RSC Anderlecht v Mons (21:08:11) Join Millwall fans, Guy and Hutch as they romp through Europe swerving their 5 a day in favour of football and beer.

By Chris Wright

Looks like relegation really isn't an option for Cologne this year, especially if their fans have any say in it...

Via Anorak

Bayern stopped reinventing and are themselves again. A premature autobiography by the captain keeps everybody busy off the pitch. Games are routinely won on the pitch. The table is topped. Jupp Heynckes is the coach. Sounds like a short best-of compilation from the past 20 years of Bayern Munich.

The 70s are looming large in Mönchengladbach. They always do. But with Mönchengladbach topping the table, after playing Wolfsburg off the Borussia Park in style, the media was quick with their comparisons to Gladbach's glory days. When Lucien Favre took over at Hertha, he came with the promise to build a team that could challenge for the Bundesliga and play beautiful football.

Saturday EPL on ESPN2: Arsenal - Liverpool at 7:30am. Everton - QPR is on Fox Soccer at 10am along with Chelsea - WBA at 12:30pm and Aston Villa - Blackburn at 2:30pm. Fox Soccer Plus has Swansea - Wigan at 2:30pm. Championship on Fox Soccer Plus: Forest - Leicester at 10am and Petersborough - Ipswich Town at 12pm.

• Ansgar Löcke recounts his trip to Hanover's first round DFB-Pokal match. (Bundesliga Fanatic)
• Deutsche Welle takes a look at overlooked late blooming Augsburg striker Sascha Mölders. (Deutsche Welle)
• Martyn Fisher wrote a fresh batch of tactical match reports of Bundesliga matches.

• Ansgar Löcke recounts his trip to Hanover's first round DFB-Pokal match. (Bundesliga Fanatic)
• Deutsche Welle takes a look at overlooked late blooming Augsburg striker Sascha Mölders. (Deutsche Welle)
• Martyn Fisher wrote a fresh batch of tactical match reports of Bundesliga matches.