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City tactics 2017-18


belaguttman
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No, he's saying that Wazza came up with a game plan that nullified the visit0rs' key players and Muscunt couldn't correct. That gave them the majority of possession but not meaningful possession. We controlled space but not the ball, and controlled space without sacrificing our shape and so stayed compact.

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53 minutes ago, fensaddler said:

My head hurts.  I think he's saying Wazza's a tactical genius.

I'm just glad that I played the game at a level where you didn't have to concern yourself with "continuity of balance", "reactionary movements", "vertical channels" and so on and so forth. Just run around a bit, control the ball if you could, pass it to a team-mate in a better position than you, and if in sight of goal, have a crack.

And get pissed on the coach going home from an away match.

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11 hours ago, thisphantomfortress said:

Great article. Do you have a link to the Op, this bloke deserves a few clicks. 

Compare this article to listening to Andy Harper's 'special comments ' during thr game. 

He wouldn't stop talking about how we had no idea how we were attacking. Compared us to Jeff Thomson just bowling the ball anywhere - if we had no idea what we were doing im attack, then how would victory know? Blah, blah...

Yep agree, excellent analysis on tactics by this bloke. 

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4 hours ago, Torn Asunder said:

We seem to be tracking better this season thus far in terms of Yellow cards.  Last season we led the way and had the most; currently, we sit equal 3rd lowest with 6.  Sydney have the fewest with just 2 and Newcastle have the most with 10.  

Good point, last season we were one of the highest, if not the crowned champion.

Well it's definitely defence first atm, hopefully it's a work in progress, I'll wait a few weeks to comment.

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On 16/10/2017 at 7:10 PM, jw1739 said:

I'm just glad that I played the game at a level where you didn't have to concern yourself with "continuity of balance", "reactionary movements", "vertical channels" and so on and so forth. Just run around a bit, control the ball if you could, pass it to a team-mate in a better position than you, and if in sight of goal, have a crack.

And get pissed on the coach going home from an away match.

This is premier league compared to the standards I played lol

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Another good analysis of Joyce's defensive masterclass. I look forward to some future analysis of our defensive & attacking masterclass

Quote

Match analysis: Adelaide United vs Melbourne City

Nathan Muir Oct 29 2017 12:42PM

City’s compact structure

The defensive structure of reigning champions Sydney FC is widely viewed as one of the most critical elements of their success. Last season, they were the most compact team in the competition, defending in a tight block from deep positions.

Against Adelaide United, Warren Joyce’s City set a new benchmark for reducing the space on the pitch, aided by rapidly transitioning between being in and out of possession with relative ease.

City organised themselves defensively in a 4-4-2 shape, with two low banks of four supported by Stefan Mauk and Ross McCormack who were responsible for dictating direction higher up the pitch, as seen below.

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City’s highly compact defensive block, with links to two outliers.

From the outset, it became clear that the visitors would be hard to break down. There was virtually no systematically-occurring space between the lines due to the shallowness of the block, and Melbourne’s cover system made it difficult for Adelaide’s players to open space in central areas.

Generally, teams who defend in a 4-4-2 fail to understand the necessary movements that are required for it to properly function, resulting in players getting isolated in 1v1 situations and the inevitable breaking of the midfield line. To combat this, the ball carrier must be pressed when approaching the block.

Without the required balances, the player applying pressure will leave behind too much space, which opens the possibility of forward movement from the opposition into this uncovered area and into central areas. A series of horizontal shifts are required in order to balance the movement off the line, as illustrated below.

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Horizontal shifts to maintain structure in the immediate vicinity of the ball.

These horizontal movements allow the team to maintain occupation of the space vacated by the pressuring player, limiting the window of time where the structure is unbalanced.

This meant that space opened up on the opposite side of the midfield line, but this was not exploited by Kurz’s team as every time the ball was switched, the midfield would reset and slide back across.

Melbourne’s man-oriented approach

To further reinforce the central area of the pitch, Melbourne City choose to adopt a man-oriented approach within a zonal framework. Put simply, an individual will man-mark his opposite number whilst he is in his zone of control.

This extends to the covering of runs by midfielders until it reaches the defensive line, when a member of the back four will assume responsibility.

In the image below, it can be seen that every City player has a clear role – one is pressing the player on the ball, one covering a run, one marking and cutting the line of an opposing player, and the other staying in close proximity to the player in his zone of control.

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Melbourne’s man-orientation in midfield

There has long been debate about the merits of man-orientation, but in this instance, it clearly worked. Combined with the compactness of the block, Adelaide struggled to engage in any build-up play in central areas, failing to find midfielders with any regularity.

This meant that they were largely confined to wide areas, where the threat they posed was minimal.

Clarity is an important aspect of Warren Joyce’s management and this extends to his football philosophy, evidenced by the intentional positioning of every member of his team - with and without the ball. Adelaide didn’t seem to have an answer to this problem, despite the tactical limitations which exist in man-marking approaches.

This cornerstone of Melbourne City’s defensive approach ensured that the central area was locked down throughout the match, limiting the influence of Adelaide United’s creative midfielders.

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

This season we have been pretty hopeless at defending set pieces, and also giving up soft goals in general. It seems we really have to work hard to make our goals, whilst our opponents are mostly taking their chances from the gifts we present each game.

Also we don’t seem to be able to score this season from corners, at all.

Joyce needs to get himself a specialist set piece coach pronto.

Its driving me nuts 

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Yes, the number of goals we've conceded from silly mistakes is alarming. You can't really coach for that. You can coach for the large number of goals we've conceded from set pieces or the small number of chances we create from set pieces. We've disproportionately relied on scoring from set pieces, luckily we are good at pressuring defences into mistakes around the box

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11 hours ago, Torn Asunder said:

This season we have been pretty hopeless at defending set pieces, and also giving up soft goals in general. It seems we really have to work hard to make our goals, whilst our opponents are mostly taking their chances from the gifts we present each game.

Also we don’t seem to be able to score this season from corners, at all.

Joyce needs to get himself a specialist set piece coach pronto.

Its driving me nuts 

Repeating myself (bad habit) from another thread:

We completely waste many of our corners and free-kick opportunities. To see Brattan ambling from one side of the pitch to the other to take successive corners makes my blood boil. Last season really only Colazo could take one and threaten the opposition goal with his left-foot inswingers, and this season I reckon the best of the bunch is Jamieson. Brattan has no idea.

I applaud Joyce's emphasis on physical fitness and determination, because we really demonstrating that on the pitch now (coming back twice from being behind was unheard of a couple of seasons ago), but FMD there's still plenty to do on basic skills before we will ever realise the potential of our squads. 

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3 hours ago, neio said:

I actually wouldn't mind seeing Arzani take a few corners, he looks like the only who can cross the ball in open play 

Issue is that without Cahill we had no one who even looked a chance of getting on the end of them. Delbridge seems to be a bit of a threat now but really some of the other lads need to step it up.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Article on Counter Attacking which gives good insight into the style of play Wazza is/was aiming for and what Sydney does so well.

Good read for those interested.

 

The Art of the Counter Attack – A Look at Slomka’s Efficient Hannover Side

 

Introduction – Turnaround

Exactly a year ago Hannover were sitting in 17th place in the standings and were staring relegation directly in the face.  It had been a brutal year for the Reds. Between the tragic death of club captain and icon Robert Enke and the drawn out fight for survival, the season took a heavy toll on players and supporters alike.  Fast-forward a year and the club is on the brink of qualifying for the Champions League.  With 4 matches remaining, Hannover have long surpassed their greatest ever points total in the league and have done so in impressive fashion.

How exactly did this remarkable turnaround happen?  Behind Hannover’s historic season lays an astute tactical plan that restructured this team and optimized the performances of many of their  individual players.   Mirko Slomka, former Schalke coach and Hannover player himself, has redefined and reorganized the team tactically and made them one of the most efficient teams in Germany. This piece will examine Slomka’s dynamic counter attacking team and explore how they have employed this tactic to overcome all odds.

“The accent in the counter attack style of play lays on the defensive team

function, with the emphasis being on the defender’s own half of the field

and letting the opponents keep the initiative of the game. This is to take

advantage of the space behind their defense for the buildup and the attack.”

 – Rinus Michels

 

Counter Attacking as a Pure Tactic 

counter-attacking-football.png?resize=27 Depicts a basic execution of a counter attack, direct transition out of defense into attack.

Football is celebrated and analyzed because of its diversity on the pitch and off it.  Tactically speaking, coaches and players are taught early in their football education about the various strategies implemented on the field.  The subtleties of the chalkboards, notebooks and points and arrows can be the difference between relegation and promotion, between a win and loss and between the stagnation and resurgence of a team.

The tactic of the counter attack is one of the most widely used in football today.  Last season, Mourinho’s Inter Milan utilized it famously to eliminate Barcelona in the semi finals of the Champions League.  Uruguay under Oscar Tabarez also used it to great effect last summer at the World Cup, reaching the semi finals in the process.  Going back further, Total Football and all its proponents have even made an art form of it.

As a pure tactic, counter attacking can be a quite reliable yet risky strategy.  On one hand, it is reliant on a solid defensive foundation that is meant to sit back, absorb pressure and hold strong.

If executed properly it can provide a secure footing on which to build on while also being a deadly attacking tool that does not compromise a team defensively.  It serves as an effective organizational apparatus and the execution is quite straightforward.  Because of this it is also one of the safest bets for a result and as such is applied quite regularly by teams and managers worldwide.

On the other hand, a weak link in defense can undo all the work and leave you without much room for adjustment.  A team whose game plan hinges on counter attacking can leave themselves quite short on options should the circumstances in a match change.  For example, the counter attack works well when the opponent is chasing the game and coming at you.  If they have the lead however and are content to sit back it neutralizes much of original game plan and forces the team to adapt and change strategies.  Additional midfielders or attackers are then introduced to accommodate those changes, which in turn could throw off the team altogether.  Therefore it can be one of the less versatile tactical moves.

picture-13.png?resize=328%2C165 Depicts the basic defensive shape of a counter attacking team.

But every drawback is balanced by certain advantages and so many teams utilize this tactic because it optimizes their output.  Strategically speaking, counter attacking is used to take advantage of the opposition’s advance into your own half.  The allure of scoring can thus be exploited by the amount of space evacuated at the back.  If the opponent pushes players into the opponent’s half they leave themselves inevitably exposed at the back.  By leaving one or two attacking players around that exposed half they can quickly take advantage.

Some have equated counter attacking with long ball tactics and “hoofing’ the ball up field and as such labeled it as dull and uninspiring.  The analogy could not be further from the truth though. To pull off the perfect counter attack you require intelligent running and positioning as well as accurate passing from the back.  Otherwise you risk giving up possession as soon as you acquire it. It also demands tremendous individual and team discipline and players quick enough to cover large amounts of space in little time.

In other words, counter attacking is the most direct path to the opposition’s net that does not compromise defense but relies on the precision of execution.  In that sense it is quite difficult to achieve but when done right can be one of the most potent weapons in football.

 How Hannover Deploys the Counter Attack

The best managers tailor their teams to fit the different attributes of its players.  One cannot fit a square peg into a round hole as it were and like most other styles of play the counter attack is executed correctly only if you have the right players at your disposal.  More importantly, it works only if those players are utilized correctly in the overall scheme of that tactic.

What you often see from Hannover are quick 2-3-pass moves that span essentially the entire field. That moves the ball from defense directly to attack in a matter of seconds without giving the opponents the time to collect themselves.  As quick as that sequence occurs though, its execution involves a series of more intricate steps.

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Hannovers line up and their direct lines of counter attack, routes include quick 2-3 pass moves out of the back through midfield into attack.

Defensive foundation 

Slomka has turned a defense that leaked goals like a shoddy faucet into one of the most reliable in the league.  Hannover’s backline has become the heart and starting point of their counter attacking game.  Last season Hannover had the league’s worst defense. It was arguably their biggest shortcoming and played a significant part in their struggle against relegation.  Slomka had to find a way to address those concerns and without the luxury of a large budget he instead fine-tuned a tactic that did the job for him.

picture-153.png?resize=328%2C179 Pogatetzs distribution (#4) out of the back, passes made to players in immediate vicinity.

Before moving to Hannover, Emanuel “Mad Dog” Pogatetz had a reputation in England that very much lived up to his nickname. A magnet for bookings and penalties eventually made him a surplus to requirement at Middlesbrough and Hannover picked him up on a free transfer.  Since joining the Saxony based club, Pogatetz’s has refined his game to impressive levels.  Under Slomka, his tackling has become a lot cleaner and the team has lost only 5 of the 23 matches he started.  Similarly, Steve Cherundolo and Christian Schulz have been fantastic all around fullbacks.  Both are disciplined enough not to compromise space by foraging forward and as such they further supplement the defensive wall Hannover have set up in front of goal.  It is not unusual to see Hannover’s backline remain flat in most matches and despite the appearance it takes a good amount of drilling and cohesion to get that right.  That discipline has become the foundation of Hannover’s counter attacking game.

The organization of the defense is therefore Hannover’s first line of defense as well as attack and has been decisive in its transition play.  The role of the defenders first and foremost is to stay patient, sniff out mistakes made by the opponent and frustrate them into giving up the ball.  They do that primarily by keeping the play in front of them and ensuring that no one gets behind the defense.  As such they are happy to let the opponent have more of the ball, knowing that eventually the ball will be turned over.  Slomka has drilled the Hannover defense well enough to be able to do that.

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Hannover are happy to let the opponent have the ball. Bayern dominated possession but lost the game, Hannover scored all their goals after long spells of possession from Bayern.

The second role of the defenders is the subsequent launching of the counter attack.  One of the defenders picks up the ball and immediately plays it forward to one of the sitting midfielders.  It is important to have multiple outlets in defense to play that ball directly to the midfield rather than hoof it up the field or clear it aimlessly.  Any delayed passing or movement across the defense allows the opponents to retreat and withdraw men into their own half.

Quick Transition

picture-101.png?resize=337%2C185 Average position of Hannover players in transition, Pinto (#7) ready to receive the ball and move it forwards.

The phrase “break on the counter” is often used in football and describes a lightning fast attack out of the back where a team storms the opposition’s half immediately upon gaining possession.  This can be quite exciting to see in action and is the key to Hannover’s efficient counter attacks.  Their incredibly quick transitions out of the back have been pivotal in their impressive winning rate.  What makes up those transitions is worth a closer examination.

To hammer home just how efficient and quick Hannover have been on the break one must look only to the 14 goals they have scored this season on the counter that lasted less than 10 seconds.  It is precisely that speed of thought that makes or breaks a counter attack.  The two most vital aspects of such a transition are the positioning of and passing of the midfielders.

Sergio Pinto, Manuel Schmiedebach and Lars Stindl are three players that have been crucial in making that transition happen.  Pinto in particular has served as a quasi-deep lying playmaker that effectively links Hannover’s breaks.   All three have featured as the team’s primary link up players between defense and attack.

picture-142.png?resize=236%2C282

Pinto has been instrumental in executing Hannovers counter attacks, here is his distribution in a given match.

The positioning of Pinto and Stindl essentially get those counter attacks going.  They are the gears in the Hannover machine.  Both players are tasked with sitting in front of the defense, not only to provide additional defensive cover, but to be the spring step of their attacks.  The most difficult aspect of this role is the dual requirement of playing with their backs to the opposition’s goal as well as being able to quickly read the game ahead of them once they turn with the ball.  If one looks at the average positioning of both players it becomes apparent that they are instructed to sit deep for that purpose alone.  And if they lose the ball they are close enough to their defense to be able to recover again.

To elaborate further, the passing out of the back works best if the midfielders are in place and are quick and accurate enough with their passes.  Therefore the second element of importance is the precision with which the midfielders move the ball.  Pinto and Schmiedebach have amongst the team’s highest passing completion in matches, which makes those transitions so effective.  Take the 3-0 win against Frankfurt earlier this season for example.  Frankfurt had almost twice the amount of possession, won more duals on the ground and in the air and out passed Hannover nearly twofold.  That said, the midfield pair completed a combined 56 passes, more than any other player on the field while Frankfurt’s midfield and attack turned over the ball a combined 79 times.  Hannover have been good at exploiting turnovers because of the precision and quickness of their passing.

 Runs of the Attackers

Equally as important as the positional discipline of the defense and the quickness of the midfield are the runs of the forwards in a counter attacking system.  Without the right runs the distribution will suffer and the ball will inevitably be given up.  The simplicity of this tactic lies in its structured nature.  Similar to American football, counter attacks can be structured as pattern plays where forwards are instructed to run and follow a certain pass, knowing that that’s where they will receive the ball.  The key however is in the editing and reading of the plays as it happens.  Forwards have to know when to make what runs and adjust either as the game progresses.

261732-didier-ya-konan-traf-gegen-stuttg

Ya Konan has been one of the leagues most lethal strikers.

Hannover’s talismanic striker, Ya Konan, has made an art form of this calculated movement.  The Ivorian was picked up from Rosenborg for the measly sum of just over half a million Euros and has repaid the fee many times over.  This season he has already scored 13 and assisted 7 goals in 25 league matches.  Hannover have yet to lose a match in which the Ivorian has scored.

Ya Konan’s influence goes beyond just statistics however.  The ingenuity of his contribution comes down to the timing of his runs.  The target man in a counter attacking system needs not only pace but good ball control to minimize the time it takes to control and move the ball once he receives it.  Again, the quicker the action, the more efficient the counter.  In their 2-1 win over Köln Ya Konan had less touches than 17 other players on the pitch yet scored both goals with the two chances he was presented.  Ya Konan can create just as good as he can finish and in their win against Kaiserslautern he assisted all 3 goals by again maximizing his touches on the ball.

picture-161.png?resize=187%2C262

Ya Konans heatmap tracks his movement and runs in a given game. It is spread out across the opponents entire half.

Assisting Ya Konan are Konstantin Rausch and Mohammed Abdellaoue.  Rausch, used as a left back with the German national team at the youth level, is primarily deployed as a winger/wing forward in Slomka’s system while Abdellaoue is more the traditional target man that Ya Konan can play off.   Rausch gives Ya Konan a wide option that can cross or overlap if necessary and Abdellaoue is the ever-present focal point of Hannover’s attack.   He drags defenders out of their position for his teammates and provides the hold up play for anyone making the run into space.  The variety in attack from all three is key so that their runs provide the midfield passers with an array of options when they transition the ball.

Together they are almost always the only Hannover players in the opposition’s half.  They are the end product of the team’s quick counters and are involved in most of the goals.  Without their intelligent runs and movement the rest of the team lack the necessary outlet to complete the counter attacks.

So when Hannover score a goal through a counter attack in less than 10 seconds it follows exactly this path.  The defense collects or intercepts the ball deep in their half and immediately move it on to the waiting midfielders ahead.  Those link up players then proceed to pick out the runs of the attackers.

Because the Hannover players are primed and drilled to anticipate the pass before it happens they are all in good positions to receive the ball.  Moreover, Slomka’s organization has made his players more aware of their surroundings and where the rest of the team is on the pitch during a match.  That makes the transition from defense to midfield to attack more efficient and explains the quickness of thought when they move forward.

 Is it a Sustainable Tactic?

As was alluded to earlier, the outcome of Hannover’s strategy is very much reliant on its precise execution.  In that sense, Slomka’s side has a small margin of error during a match.  That is reflected in their overall record so far this season.  Hannover have either won or lost their games this year and not much else in between.  This past weekend, they recorded only their third draw of the campaign, the fewest in the league.

gyi0059339554_crop_450x500.jpeg?resize=2 Slomka may have to diversify his tactics going forward.

Two of those three draws have come against Leverkusen and Hamburg, two of the league’s more possession oriented and compact teams.  Both are more comfortable sitting back and absorbing attacks and against a thin forward line like Hannover’s it’s entirely feasible to imagine them having an easy time keeping them out.   In such a case, Hannover are forced to be more proactive in their play which may not suit their game entirely.

What’s more, on several occasions this season their conservative tactics failed against sides that were overly aggressive in their attack and found ways around Hannnover’s defense.  Aggressive pressing sides like Bayern, Dortmund and Hoffenheim exposed Hannover’s sitting defense during the season, soring a combined 11 goals against Hannover in the 3 matches.  Perhaps Slomka did not set out to necessarily win games against opponents like that but a team always benefits from tactical versatility.   Hannover will most likely play in Europe next year and while the counter can be a quite effective tactic against continental sides it is insufficient in the long run and will inevitably be exposed.   That said, Slomka is not beyond surprising anyone at this point.

 

Edited by playmaker
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Hannover 96 got their highest placing with Slomka, I was amazed he got replaced, but apparently he was pissing to many people off, players and staff. 

The big thing is that we had pretty good full backs then with Shultz and Dolo who was our captain, for a large part of the season here we have had Muscat and Jaimieson, both not the best passers of the ball to start the counter.

Pinto could always hit a pass, Shmiedebach was no mug. If you follow the Bundesliga or Germany, you know Stindl is quality, fast and scores goals, I wasn't happy when we sold him.  

We had no right to have Ya Konen on loan, but Hannover have always had an understanding with Manure United, we found it hard to score when he didn't play. 

Things fell in place at the time and we were lucky to have the players we had, Cherendolo started to decline after, he was about 36 Yr old or something, pretty much the whole back line has. 

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43 minutes ago, playmaker said:

You have to laugh.

Wigan vs Man City 

125.thumb.jpg.7b259fed31953966e9b6bec6c99831c4.jpg

Perfect defensive counter attack

Wigan's team salary is probably worth less than Kevin De Bruyne's salary.

:tooth:

Hmmmm you could play that game 50 times over and the possession stats would be the same, even greater towards Man City as they'd have 11 out there. Out of those 50 times, Man City would win all of them.

So yeah your example highlights how effective the counter is on this occasion, but is it really that effective if it works only 1 time out of 50?

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33 minutes ago, rass said:

Hmmmm you could play that game 50 times over and the possession stats would be the same, even greater towards Man City as they'd have 11 out there. Out of those 50 times, Man City would win all of them.

So yeah your example highlights how effective the counter is on this occasion, but is it really that effective if it works only 1 time out of 50?

yeah I know. I just find the stats hilarious.

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5 hours ago, rass said:

Hmmmm you could play that game 50 times over and the possession stats would be the same, even greater towards Man City as they'd have 11 out there. Out of those 50 times, Man City would win all of them.

So yeah your example highlights how effective the counter is on this occasion, but is it really that effective if it works only 1 time out of 50?

No it isn't. But that's how the giant-killers do it in the FA Cup and there have been many famous cup wins and cup runs over the years.

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That Wigan result typifies everything that is so great and so bad (unfair) about our game. On any given day any team has a chance to win. 

So as a fan even when you know in all likelihood you will get smashed you still cling to the hope of maybe today will be your day.

The only bad thing is that song is going to get murdered to death.

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