Published: Friday, 5th September, 2008 13:00
Meet Reading's own `Usain Bolt'
By Anthony Smith
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Lightning bolt: Is Jimmy Kebe (right) the fastest thing in English football?
LIAM Rosenior has hailed Jimmy Kebe as the Usain Bolt of English football.
Reading’s right-back insists he is the fastest player in this country and would leave Cristiano Ronaldo for dead.
The pair impressed in last weekend’s 4-2 victory over Crystal Palace when they forged a threatening partnership down the right.
And Rosenior could not stop himself making comparisons between Kebe and Olympic gold medalist and world record holder, Bolt.
He declared: “It’s not hard to click with someone with Jimmy’s pace. He’s the quickest I have ever seen to be honest. He’s the Usain Bolt of English football.
“I’ve played against Ronaldo and Arjen Robben and his natural speed is easily faster than theirs. I’m not just saying that because we play for the same team, he’s faster than them.
“He’s also still young and if we can work on our final ball and our link-up play we hope there won’t be many teams who can stop us this year.”
Mali international Kebe, 24, signed from Lens in January for about £400,000. At the time he was on loan with French second division side, Boulogne, where he was spotted by Royals chief scout Brian McDermott.
“Before he came Brian also told me he was the fastest player he had ever seen – and he’s proving it,” explained Rosenior. “He does it in training and if he keeps performing like that we’ve got great width.
“His performances so far have been very good and it’s nice that we enjoy playing together. Sometimes players naturally click and not much needs to be said.
“I think fans want to see exciting players with pace who can beat people and get crosses in. That’s what our side is about. We have Stephen Hunt one side and Jimmy on the other.
“Fans appreciate an entertaining game, like against Charlton. We want to entertain but we want to win matches as well.
“With strikers like Kevin Doyle, Shane Long, Leroy Lita and the two new boys I think we have plenty of goals in us.”
Meanwhile, Rosenior has told how the Palace victory helped ease the pain of the 4-2 loss at Alan Pardew’s Charlton a week earlier.
The 24-year-old ex-Fulham star admitted his display at The Valley was the worst of his entire career: “A lot of us were very upset with what happened at Charlton. Maybe we went there expecting to win and for it to be easy.
“It was a low for me at this club. It was the worst I’ve played in my career by far. I’ve never had a winger (Hameur Bouazza) dictate the play before. It didn’t happen in the Premier League and it shouldn’t in the Championship.
“It upset me but when you play badly it’s a test of character. I’ve played in the top division through my career and to come down to Championship level and not play to my high standards upset me. But it won’t happen again.
“I tried being more positive against Palace and to make things happen. Luckily they did but one game doesn’t mean anything. I want to do that for the rest of the season.”
Rosenior now faces competition from fit-again skipper, Graeme Murty, as well as youngster Julian Kelly.
But he said confidently: “Competition is good for the club but I don’t really look at anyone but myself. I’ve got the shirt at the moment and I intend to play 46 games at right-back.
“It doesn’t matter who is behind me. If I can play to the levels I know I can then I know I will be in the team.
“It’s good to have the pressure but the pressure also has to come from within and it is down to me.”
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