View from the Visitors: Albrighton on City dominance, Mahrez class and Kompany rocket | OneFootball

Marc Albrighton enjoyed a decade of success at Leicester City - winning the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Community Shield and the Sky Bet Championship.

He also represented the Foxes in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Europa Conference League, making over 300 appearances in that time.

We chatted to him this week to preview City’s clash with Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men.

What are your thoughts ahead of City v Leicester?

Obviously it's going to be very difficult from a Leicester point of view, in my opinion.

Leicester are not in a great run of form. But also, I think they're at that stage of the season where they haven't got anything to lose.

Obviously City have been magnificent for several seasons now but this time, they aren't in the same place as they were previously. They’re not where they would want to be.

So, I think that presents a chance for my former club. I think Leicester have shown glimpses of good spells in games, but it's just been difficult to sustain that for the full 90 minutes.

What have you made of the Foxes this season?

I just think they have conceded too many easy goals which I don't think that they've recovered from.

They were doing that early in the season and it’s just carried on throughout the campaign and they’ve not really found a cure for it.

They've tried different things and obviously they've gone to a five at the back now and that hasn't quite worked so much either. So I think it's just a case of just trying things.

But they are conceding goals and they're not really scoring them at the other end of the field either which makes things very difficult for any team.

Nearly 10 years ago, you were winning the Premier League with Leicester - how do you look back on that now?

It’s obviously something that’s mentioned every single day in my life now and understandably so. It’s something that people will never, ever forget - even fans who don’t support Leicester talk about it.

That's why, for me, it's so sad to see where the club are now and in the position that they're in now.

But to have experienced that period and that era was incredible and I think it really showed the club in a good light as well as a family club, with togetherness and with great people there. I think it really showed Leicester in such a great light.

You also won the FA Cup with Leicester A FEW years later. Was your time with the Foxes the happiest of your career?

Yes I think so, without doubt.

Don’t get me wrong, I played for my boyhood club Aston Villa, which was amazing and something that I dreamt of doing as a kid.

But I think what I went on to achieve after I left Villa Park was beyond my wildest dreams.

It was something that when I signed for Leicester, I would never have expected to come close to achieving.

I think what was special was achieving success at a club that has so many great people and such a good fanbase allied to, of course, the quality of the lads in the dressing room and the friendships that I made along the way there.

I definitely had my happiest times at Leicester.

Riyad Mahrez, who went on to join City soon after your Premier League win, was part of that successful Leicester squad – what was he like to play with?

He is a world class footballer.

I've never seen a footballer with a better first touch. He could pull one out the air from 60 or 70 yards and then just put the ball wherever he wanted it, whether that was to check back inside or take it in his stride, whether it's to stop it dead, he could do anything with it. It was a pleasure to play with someone with that ability.

For him to go on to win the PFA Player of the Year that season, it was so fully deserved. He was absolutely amazing and it was an incredible achievement from Riyad.

Above all that, though, he was such a good guy as well in the dressing room. He was a humble character with massive dreams of playing in the Champions League.

He always used to talk about the Champions League and how much he wanted to play in it. He reached the quarter-finals with Leicester and then obviously went on to win it with City some years later.

So to see him thrive on that stage throughout the years, I was delighted for him.

He’s not your only City link. You spent time with our former players Gareth Barry, James Milner and Fabian Delph at Aston Villa. Tell us about them?

I think one of the things I’m most gutted about in my career is that I actually never got to share the pitch with Gareth Barry. I trained with him on many, many occasions but he was leaving as I was breaking into the first team. It was a bit of a crossover.

Spending time with him at Bodymoor Heath, he was an absolutely fantastic player and a great guy as well. So I look back at that with some disappointment.

With James Milner, I based my game around him when I was a bit younger. I loved the way he played and he was similar in terms of wanting to stay wide, get balls into the box, I suppose an old-fashioned winger in many ways. He then adapted his game and added more and that was credit to him and his undoubted ability. He's gone on to forge an absolutely incredible career.

And then with Fabian Delph, it was similar in how he adapted his game. Even when he came to City, he was changing positions and played at left back as well as in midfield and also out wide on occasions.

So he was another one that could perform in a few roles and play in them very, very well.

The thing that struck me about Fabian was just how aggressive he was. Even after a couple of nasty injuries, he was still incredibly committed and very aggressive. If you took that out of his game, he wouldn’t have been the same player.

You’ve played in many great games against City but one that stands out is when Vincent Kompany scored a long-distance goal that helped us to eventually win the Premier League. What do you remember of that one?

For us, it was good to play a part in that title race.

Obviously, it was very tight at the top and we had done well in that game and thought we could get something out of it. But then obviously, Vincent comes up with a moment of absolute brilliance.

Looking back at it now, you don’t ever want to lose any game of football but fair play to Vincent to score that one and have a moment like that, it must have been so special for him.

I know it forms part of the statue design outside the Etihad Stadium.

For what he did in that game, with the importance of the goal and more generally what he did for the club over many years, the plaudits he received were truly deserved.

Looking at City more generally, what have you made of the Pep Guardiola era – 18 trophies in close to 10 years?

It’s amazing what Pep Guardiola has done at Manchester City. City have raised the bar in the Premier League haven’t they, simple as that.

Obviously, a lot of that is down to Pep Guardiola. But also, you have to look at the players that have come into City in this era. They have been willing to come in, be humble, learn and play the way that Pep wants to play. They have bought into it all.

With Pep, too, look at the managers that he's guided who are now top Premier League managers. They’ve learned a lot from Pep.

I think he has changed the face of football in England and it's incredible to see. It’s also unbelievable to see what the club has achieved under Pep.

One player who plays in your position and has been key to success here at City is Kevin De Bruyne. What have you made of him in the Premier League era?

He’s a Premier League legend.

His all-round game is incredible and has been for many, many years.

I think some of the things that he does with the football, I’m in awe of.

Look at his passing quality, some of the crosses he puts in and the areas he puts the ball into, it’s on a plate for strikers. He must be an absolute dream to play with if you’re a centre forward.

I’m pleased to say I have competed on the same pitch as him.