Tag Archives: Carling Cup

Match Preview: Arsenal v Manchester City

  By jtom | 29/11/2011 - 7:00 AM | League Cup, Match Preview
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Arsene Wenger has some difficult decisions to make regarding player selection for Arsenal’s Carling Cup quarterfinal match against Manchester City. While Manchester City will make significant changes to their starting eleven from the Liverpool match, they will still have enough depth to field a very strong side. The match will be interesting and likely very tough for the Gunners.

“On the fringe” and “In the red” are two phrases Wenger has been using a lot lately. Both are used to describe players who are statistically close to sustaining an injury. There is no need for fancy graphs to see that Robin van Persie and other, less important players could be nearing an injury.

During an interview with Arsenal.com, Wenger gave supporters several hints about who will be in his starting XI. First, he said that he was 90% sure of what players would be on the pitch. Arsene also said Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Emmaneul Frimpong will start. Nico Yennaris will be in the squad but Wenger did not say whether he will be on the bench or on the pitch. Wenger did confirm that the line-up will consist of the usual League Cup players, which means a blend of youth and experience. 

Our lack of squad depth has forced Wenger to use van Persie, Walcott, Ramsey, and other first team players far too often. There is not much squad rotation because the quality of the back-ups is simply not good enough. This is exactly what worries me about Tuesday night.

My prediction for the starting eleven is on the right. According to ESPN, the provisional squad is: Fabianski, Yennaris, Miquel, Squillaci, Djourou, Arshavin, Benayoun, Frimpong, Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Park, Mannone, Rosicky, Chamakh, Diaby, Boateng, Ozyakup, Miyaichi, Aneke.

Contrast that to City’s provisional squad (Irish Examiner): Hart, Pantilimon, Taylor, Richards, Zabaleta, Savic, Kompany, K Toure, Lescott, Onuoha, Kolarov, Clichy, Bridge, Milner, Johnson, Y Toure, De Jong, Hargreaves, Nasri, Silva, Aguero, Dzeko, Razak, Suarez, Rekik.

While Mancini may rest some of his stars at the beginning, he will surely have them on the bench just in case. Can you imagine what Silva would do up against Squillaci? Terrifying.

On one hand, Wenger is keeping our priorities in check. Having the strongest players available for the Premier League games is vital, even against clubs like Saturday’s opponents Wigan. On the other hand, a thrashing at home against City could really damage the confidence of the team. Obviously, players need to be rested, but why was is it necessary to not include Gervinho and Koscielny in the squad (neither started against Fulham)?

Of course, the argument is always that the league cup is not a big deal. Although, it may be our best chance to win a trophy this season and destory the demons from last season. Wenger could be making a huge mistake by using a reserve side in this match.

Arsenal have never lost a home Carling Cup match at Ashburton Grove, but Tuesday night will likely test that unbeaten run. Looking at the likely squads, it is hard to imagine anything other than a Manchester City victory. But, as the old cliche goes, football is not won on paper. We know that better than any club after last year’s Carling Cup final.

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Reactions to the Cup Final

  By jtom | 28/02/2011 - 8:31 PM | Uncategorized
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I may have overreacted last night when I posted that Arsene Wenger should be sacked before the next match. Now that I’ve had time to cool down, I can say that sacking a manager because of a Carling Cup loss may be a bit harsh. I will say that if Wenger cannot win any of the other three competitions (FA Cup, Champions League, Premier League), then the board should really consider whether to bring him back or not.

Arsene is still optimistic for this season.

Let’s get to some reactions and other news coming out of the Arsenal today. Here is Wenger on what lies ahead for the Gunners: “The Carling Cup is four or five games, but a championship season is 38. We will not throw 38 games away because of one game.

“I am confident we have the character and this is a good opportunity to show it. We have to be proud of our attitude, continue with our belief, pick ourselves up and face the other challenges we have.

“We will face a lot of questions after that mistake, but we have to be strong enough to stand up. It is a good opportunity to show that we have the mental strength to respond to the situation.”

The second happiest team yesterday after the final was Leyton Orient. Maybe the crushing loss at the weekend will carry over until Wednesday. Let’s hope that we won’t suffer two surprising losses in one week. It could be a huge opportunity for the players to show that they will bounce back with a renewed vigor.

Birmingham City midfielder Craig Gardner, who was taken out of the match early in t.he second half, said that his side scared the Gunners: “It was brilliant because the way we started, we started like a house on fire and we really got into them and you could see they were petrified and they were scared and then it all just went from there.

“Big Ziggy played up front on his own and I think he bullied them. They were petrified of him, midfielders were running off big Ziggy and we caused them problems.”

So we were petrified the minute Birmingham put up a fight and the tall Slavic man “petrified” us like the little schoolgirls we are. It is an interesting theory. Of course, the players certainly weren’t scared of Birmingham City, no offense to them. They were scared of losing and disappointing the fans when everyone thought the trophy-drought would end yesterday.

Jack Wilshere fired back at Birmingham after the game on his Twitter account: “Well done to the Birmingham City player who slapped Koscielny on the head when they scored, very big of you!”

Now, Wilshere was probably just bitter after such a demise in a cup final but I think he has a point. After the game winner, Ferguson, as he was celebrating the goal, ran past by the fallen Koscielny and hit his head down. If Koscielny hadn’t been so crestfallen, maybe he should have gotten up and given Ferguson a sound beating. It was a disrespectful move by Ferguson but not surprising given his goonish nature.

Cesc also had something to say on his Twitter after the match: “Congratulations to Birmingham. This team has great potential and there are still great targets to play for this season. Thanks for your support.”

Many other players were simply saying sorry to the fans:

RVP: “I am very sorry that we could not bring CC [Carling Cup] back to north London. Thanks for your support today. Sorry again.” To be fair, Wenger doesn’t care much for the Carling Cup and we haven’t won it since ’94.

Samir Nasri: “It is a massive blow, but we have to look forward to Wednesday’s FA Cup game and we still have three competitions, so chin up.”To his credit, Nasri was outstanding. He really tried to break Birmingham and almost did, with little help from his teammates.

Wilshere (again on his Twitter): “All I can say is sorry to the fans. It hurts a lot, I know, but we must all stick together. Still in two [sic] other competitions! We have to move on. Sorry.”

Bacary Sagna summed it up: “Just feel ashamed. Sorry.”

We will have to wait for Wednesday to begin the healing process after such a brutal match. Until then, we will have to root on Chelsea against United tomorrow night.

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Match Report: Birmingham City 2 Arsenal 1

  By jtom | 27/02/2011 - 7:12 PM | Uncategorized
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Birmingham City have won the Carling Cup final after beating the sorry Gunners 2-1 at the new Wembley Stadium. Our trophy-drought will continue as our best chance to end it has just gone by. Birmingham took the lead on a header from Nikola Zigic in the 28th minute. Robin van Persie equalised ten minutes later on a beautiful volley. Wengerstupidly took out both Arshavin and RVP in the 2nd half. Birmingham’s winner was handed to them. Mistakes by Laurent Koscielny and the keeper lead to an easy goal from Obafemi Martins.

Martins (pictured here when he played with Inter) scored the late winner for Birmingham City

This loss is devatating for Arsenal and I think the manager needs to be held accountable. Arsene Wengershould be sacked. He has stuck along too long with this club and not won anything in six years. The Gunners have lost in three cup finals in that time and failed to win the league. Arsenal have let Manchester United and Chelsea breeze by them andcapture trophies while were stuck with a lame-duck manager trying to win his way.

Some may think firing Wenger after a league cup loss is extreme. I don’t. If you cannot beat Birmingham City in a final, who can you beat. They certainly won’t win any competition this season. In fact, they will not win another competition until the Frenchman leaves the club. Mark my words.

We did miss Fabregas but we still had quality players out on the pitch. That is, until Wenger came in and took them out. Both RVP and Arshavin were having terrific games until Wengerreplaced them with Bendtner and Chamakh. How dumb can you be? Chamakh and Bendtner cannot be on the pitch together. They are similar footballers and will NEVER complement each other.

Every club in the world knows how to beat us. Get a tall guy, doesn’t have to be a footballer, just someone off the street. Then have players fling the ball towards him. The Arsenal defense will break down like sack of potatoes. God forbid they face a set piece. Just count it as a goal to save time.

Wenger has continually looked past his frail defence and inexperienced keeper. Sczcesny has looked good in recent weeks but his lack of experience showed today. A Birmingham free kick (taken from deep in their half) bounced towards Sczcesny. Laurent Koscielny came over right in front of Sczcesny and tried to clear the ball, even though it was going right to his keeper, but he missed it. Sczcesny must have taken his eye off the ball because it bounced off him and right to Martins.

Now, either Sczcesny didn’t call for the ball loudly enough, or at all. That is something they teach you as a schoolboy. Let the ball run to the keeper. It was a blunder that will go down in Arsenal history. It is unacceptable, escpecially so late in the match (89th minute). That moment will be remembered vividly until the Gunners win another trophy. I hope it’s soon, but my gut tells me it won’t be.

Historic collapses. Something this team has become known for. The Newcastle match and now this. Now, to be fair, we never had the lead. It was still a collapse because of the way we conceded the winning goal. Birmingham did play well but they didn’t deserve that goal. We handed to them and they delivered for their fans. All the respect and congratulations to them.

Now, many of you may still want Wenger to manage the club. He has been a very sucessfulmanager with the Gunners but not recently. Any other club would have sacked their manager if their team would have underperformed the way Arsenal had since 2005. Six years isn’t a long drought for most clubs but Arsenal aren’t most clubs. The expectation is to win competitions and it hasn’t happened.

The Gunners dominated the ball for most of the match but failed to go ahead on their many chances. That has always been the story with this team. Lots of possession, lots of chances, few goals.

After Wenger took off RVP and Arshavin, Samir Nasri was left to do it all by himself andhe almost did. He can navigate around droves of Birmingham defenders. Birmingham City keeper Ben Foster was outstanding in goal, making many fantastic saves and keeping his side in it. On the other side, Sczcesny was busy giving up the game for the Gunners.

Wenger has brought in some great young players but he is forced to sell them once they figure out the team isn’t close to winning a thing. We saw today what the team will be without Fabregas. Walcott was missing too but Arshavin played well in his place. Once Fabregas leaves, Wengerwill try to replace him with Wilshere as a playmaker and captain. Then, after a few years and no trophies, Wilshere will move on to Chelsea, Manchester, or Madrid and the cycle will start again.

The transfer window is always very boring for Arsenal fans. Wenger will not buy top quality players unless they are teenagers. Of course, we Gooners do have to worry about players leaving the club, which happens quite frequently.

So, we didn’t even talk about the Arsenal goal. RVP volleyed an Arshavin cross into the far corner. The Dutchman whipped his leg around the defender to get to the ball. He even injured himself a bit on the goal.

Nothing new today. The Gunners lose another cup final. This time a mistake did them in in the final minutes. If I had my way, Wenger would not be the Arsenal manager by Wednesday’s FA Cup match against Leyton Orient. We’ve been waiting too long for success and Wengeris staying around based on what he did in the past. Time to move on.

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Carling Cup Final Preview

  By jtom | 25/02/2011 - 6:46 PM | Uncategorized
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Arsenal will battle Birmingham City for right to hoist the League Cup at Wembley Stadium. Can the Gunners end their six years of misery or will Birmingham provide a stunning upset? We will be without skipper Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott, who could miss more than just the final. Arsene will field his top side against Birmingham and the pressure will be on the Gunners to secure the silverware. Sunday is cup final day.

Will RVP be able to captain Arsenal to glory?

It is really a shame that Cesc will have to sit out Sunday. He was so eager to captain this Arsenal side to their first trophy. No one wants to risk damaging that hamstring further though. As for Walcott, he will be missed. His pace on the outside adds a lot of width to the side. RVP will be playing up top, which is great news.

Birmingham City will not be an easy opponent. They are sitting 15th in the table and looking to avoid the drop. Will coming off a 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cu will inspire the confidence they need to get a big victory over a top club?. Just ask striker Cameron Jerome: “Will the lack of trophies put pressure on them? I think it is going to.

“They are overwhelming favourites and everyone is writing us off outside of our camp. That is going to add the pressure on them, and also them not winning a trophy for a while.

“They had a league game on Wednesday (against Stoke), have a narrow lead in the Champions League against Barcelona and have also got an FA Cup replay.

“They are in a lot of competitions so hopefully we can catch them slipping.

“They are going to have to be poor and we are going to have to be brilliant to get something. That’s the nature of it really. Arsenal are a top side.” Jerome went on to reiterate his point about Arsenal being in several competitions and the Arsene Wenger will really try and go for this trophy. Let’s hope we don’t slip Sunday. I could see it happening but it would be a catastrophe for the club. The media would be happy to continue to talk about our drought for a few more years. Hopefully, they won’t get that chance.

Here is what Wenger had to say about the injuries: “No, because he (Cesc) is injured and you cannot play football when you are injured.

“He is sad and disappointed, of course. But it could have been worse. The injury is a very small one, and we have so many targets in front of us that it is important he is not out for longer.”

“What I believe is important now is that the team and the squad focuses on the game we want to play on Sunday.

“Ideally we want everybody fit, but before the season starts you know that you can have some players injured. We can deal with that.”

Wenger went on to say that it is “very unlikely” that Theo Walcott will be able to make the trip to Camp Nou. He also named Robin van Persie captain for the final. Here is what Wenger said about the actual match and not the injuries that may derail the team: “There is always a risk but you fight very hard to be in this kind of position.

“In football, when you lose you have to accept defeat. But what is important when you go into a Final is that you give absolutely everything.

“You do not want to go into a Final with fear that if you lose it will be dramatic. What you want is to go into the final and give everything to win it and that is how we approach the game.”

We want to go for everything and the next one is the most important one.”

“No matter what happens we have such a big end of season in front of us, whether we win or don’t win. What is the most important is that we have promised ourselves to give absolutely everything in every game until the end of the season and that is the target we have in front of us.”

If we had won the league recently, or FA Cup, or Champions League, these final would not mean much. Arsenal are a very successful club with a rich history filled with trophies. If they were not on this dry spell, a League Cup wouldn’t mean much. It means everything now. This trophy may give the young players the confidence to spur more success the rest of the season.

We are expected to win this cup. Sure, a little celebrating will occur if we do, but let’s not go overboard. It is still just a Carling Cup. Back in the days of Henry, Viera, Pires, and the like this tournament was just the icing on the cake. We cannot make it the whole cake this year. A win would be nice, but coupled with another trophy could be fantastic.

Despite my comments in the above paragraph, Arsenal have not won this trophy since 1993. Wenger has never really valued the League Cup. This year, he seems determined to win it. Is it because the expectations for the club have dwindled? I don’t think so. Like Wenger said, we want the quadruple and it starts with the League Cup.

On to Wembley!

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Fabregas Desperately Wants to Play

  By jtom | 24/02/2011 - 8:39 PM | Uncategorized
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Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas desperately wants to play in the Carling Cup Final on Sunday. Cesc suffered a hamstring sprain last night against Stoke City. Medical staff will evaluate the injury over the next couple of days and make a decision on whether the Spaniard is fit enough to play. Fabregas may not take no for an answer.

Fabregas is eager to play in a cup final.

Here is what Cesc said on Twitter: “I dont know if I’ll make Sunday or not, but all I know is that from this moment to Sunday I won’t sleep if it’s necessary. I’ve waited too long to captain a final for Arsenal and I won’t give up till the last second.”

We’ve all waited far too long to see Arsenal win a cup final. The Gunners have lost their last two cup final (The 2006 Champions League Final and the 2007 League Cup final). It’s time for a trophy, even if it is the League Cup. It can provide confidence for the players and hopefully lead to more silverware this season.

Still, Cesc, please get some rest. We don’t want sleepy captain on Sunday. But seriously, Cesc is key for Sunday, escpecially if RVP misses the match. Fabregas is one of the best midfield players in the Premier League, if not the best. He makes everyone around him so much better.

Laurent Koscielny and Robin van Persie may not be able to play Sunday. Both were ruled out for last night’s game and a decision will be made on their fitness tomorrow. Everyone really hopes RVP can play. We have trouble scoring without him. Walcott will definitely miss the match. Let’s hope Wenger plays Arshavin on the wing, not Nickolas Bendtner.

On to Wembley!

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Arsenal Advance to Final

  By jtom | 25/01/2011 - 11:02 PM | Uncategorized
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Arsenal beat Ipswich Town 3-0 tonight to advanced to the Carling Cup Final.  The Gunners came into this game at the Emirates down 1-0 on aggregate.  At the half, it looked as if Ipswich may be able to hold Arsenal off for just enough time.  But the Gunners came out blazing in the second half, torching the Ipswich defence for three goals.  Arsene and his players will have a chance to win the first trophy for our beloved club since 2005.

Arsene Wenger decided not to start the reserves in the second leg of the semifinal.  Van Persie sat up top with Arshavin and Bendtner on the wings.  Fabregas played in an attacking role behind RVP and Jack Wilshere and Denilson played as centre midfielders.  The defence was anchored by Johan Djourou and Laurent Koscielny with Sagna and Clichy on the outside.  The presence of van Persie surprised me a bit because Arsenal played just three days ago.  It’s save to say that RVP is 100% back and in form.  The lineup showed the Wenger is serious about the Carling Cup.  The players proved it on the pitch. 

The match started off with a bang.  Ipswich fired the ball at the Arsenal goal right off the tip off.  It was an ambious effort from Grant Leadbitter but it did give Sczcesny something to think about.  The first half started with back-and-forth oppurtunities for each team.  The Arsenal back four were forced to panic at times, but the Ipswich defenders were sometimes left only to hope that the Gunners did not find the back of the net.

In the 19th minute, Bacary Sagna collided with Sczcesny and both were left lying on the pitch for a few minutes.  Sczcesny was able to recover but Sagna had to leave the match shortly after the incident.  Early reports are saying the Frenchman has a broken nose but it has not been confirmed.  Let’s hope we don’t lose Sagna.  He is out most consistent defender and his is (in my opinion) one of the best right backs in England at the moment.

The Arsenal attack continued to generate a myriad of chanced but ultimately failed to go in front by the time the halftime whistle sounded. 

After the break, Arsenal started to dominate the match and it just became a matter of time until the first goal would be scored.  It came in the 64th minute from Nicklas Bendtner.  Wilshere sent a pass to Bendtner on the left flank, who made a clever touch to open up space for a shot.  The finish was absolutely brilliant.  A right-footed strike that curled into the far corner.  The keeper never had a chance.

Bendtner is starting to prove me wrong.  I never thought he be effective playing on the wing.  He has a good match and maybe that’s where Wenger will be able to get him some playing time.  Playing time that Bendtner never fails to remind you he deserves.

Three minutes later, Arsenal were able to pull ahead on aggregate.  Laurent Koscielny put in the winner off a corner.  He did a great job of pulling in front of the keeper and heading the ball home.  Arsenal scoring off a corner, just as rare as Andy Gray respecting a lineswoman I figure.

The Gunners were not done yet though.  Cesc Fabregas has been hungry for a goal lately but he always seems to come up short, even when he doesn’t try to flop (all in good humour).  Andre Arshavin, who also assisted on the second goal, sent a ball to Fabregas who finished off the night’s work by putting the shot through the keeper’s legs and into the back of the net.  That goal was the one that put the nail in the coffin for Ipswich.  Arsenal are headed to the final.

Near the end of the match, chants of “Wembly” rang out from the Gooner faithful, hungrily awaiting a trophy.  There is still one game left to win however, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  It will either be West Ham or Birmingham as the other team in the final.  Take it away Arsene:

“We are happy because it was one of our targets. Once you are in the semi-final of course you don’t want to waste the opportunity.

“We had a bad result in the first tie so we were under a bit of pressure tonight, but we handled that quite well because we didn’t give any chances away and we scored three goals.

“At the moment we are scoring three goals in every game, the team is very consistent. There is a great attitude and overall we did a great job tonight.”  In fact, Arsenal has scored three goals in every game since my first match report on this site.  Back to Wenger:

“We are in the final now so we will try hard to win it. We will give absolutely everything and I think it could be a big lift for the other competitions as well.

“We are there and it is the first final that is played, so we will try to win it. We can watch the game tomorrow night and see who we will play.

“Before, in previous seasons, we have been in the final and semi-final, but with a very young team. This year we have a very big squad so we went for the Carling Cup as well. We are completely focused on every competition.”

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Match Preview: Arsenal vs Ipswich

  By jtom | 24/01/2011 - 8:15 PM | Uncategorized
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Arsenal will be facing off against Ipswich Town tomorrow night in the second leg of a Carling Cup semifinal.  The first leg, played at Portman Road, saw the Gunners fall 1-0 to the Championship side.  Arsene Wenger knows he is terribly close to his first trophy since 2005 but his side will need to beat Ipswich by two goals or more tomorrow at the Emirates if he hopes to hoist the League Cup trophy.

It will be very interesting to see who Wenger will start tomorrow.  He usually gives the kids a run in the Carling Cup, but will he when a chance at the final is at stake?  The starting eleven tomorrow will tell us how much Wenger really cares about the tournament.  Of course, the League Cup is the fourth most prestigious competition Arsenal are in at the moment, but how desperate is Wenger to get his hands on another trophy?

Now onto some transfer news and rumours.  Some reports have said that Tottenham defender Jonathan Woodgate will leave Spurs and join Arsenal.  Well, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp had this to say about the rumours:

“Is he going to Arsenal? No, not a chance. We wouldn’t let him go to Arsenal. I think they are after taking Sol Campbell back again.”  The Sol Campbell comment was obviously a joke, but the part about Woodgate clearly wasn’t.  Doesn’t look like Spurs are going to give us any defensive help this month.

Arsene Wenger have confirmed that Arsenal are trying to make a move for Southhampton attacker Alex Chamberlain.  Chamberlain is a highly touted youngster who has been prized by many Premier League clubs for some time.  He is one of the most promising English players in football and it looks like the Gunners have the upper hand in negotiations. 

Wenger: “We will try now. We need an agreement with Southampton.

“We need an agreement with the player, and we are not the only ones on the case.

“But we try as hard as we can as I like him as a player.”

Chamberlain’s father, Alex, is a former England player and he had this to say: 

“Arsenal, with the manager there, the way they play and how they develop players I think they are the ideal choice.”

“I am his dad. I’ve worked with both. They’ve both got different attributes. Theo has already played 100 Premier League games for Arsenal, played for England and has scored a hat-trick. He’s a really good player.”

Let’s get back to the players currently in the squad.  Robin Van Persie is still very joyous about getting his first hat trick as an Arsenal player.  He says that it is a day he thought would never come.  Here’s what he had to say:

“It means a lot because I’ve been here a long time. I had come so close, so many times I had scored two goals and then I hit the bar or the post. I was starting to think: ‘why can I not score a hat-trick? Last week it happened again against West Ham, I scored two goals and then hit the post, so I started to sort of accept it a little bit. The moment when you accept it, that’s when you score one.

“It’s not just me who scored. It’s like a team effort. You have the one with the assist, the one before the assist and the one who scores, in between you have the guy who’s making the run for me. We all love to play with each other and we all enjoy our football. Of course there is pressure, because you want to win the title and you want to achieve things together, but on the football side of it we are enjoying ourselves.

“If we beat Ipswich we will have one game to play to have a trophy and if we have that one, then it’s out of the way. I believe that can give us a lot of confidence as well, just to lift that trophy and get that feeling together. The fans start to believe and, from that moment we can really go for it.”

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