Vincent Kompany
Kevin De Bruyne has backed Vincent Kompany to silence the critics and make a success of his new role at Anderlecht.
The former Manchester City captain joined the Belgian club as player-manager in the summer but he has endured a rocky ride so far.
Kompany stepped down this week as match day manager after the Belgian side’s worst start in 21 years, handing coaching responsibilities to assistant Simon Davies on the touchline.
But the 33-year-old suffered an injury during the 1-0 defeat to Genk on Friday.
Despite the disappointing start, Belgium teammate De Bruyne is still backing his former City team-mate to be a success.
He told the Manchester Evening News, “He’s been a manager for like two months, so what do you expect?”
“To go there and win every game? It’s not like this in football. I think there’s a lot of people who want him to fail, because to do this job, to be player and a manager, some people don’t like it but I know Vinny pretty well and he probably won’t care what people say about it.”
Kompany said when he took over at Anderlecht that he wanted to implement the philosophy that has seen City win three Premier League titles in six years under Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola.
De Bruyne knows how difficult it can be for a manager to change the mindset of players but he is expecting Kompany to be given time.
“I spoke with him a few times, he’s enjoying it,” De Bruyne said.
“The games that I saw I think they’re playing really well, they’re missing a striker for the moment but I think he had a very tough job.
“I think he had like 50 players at the beginning of the season and had to let 25 players go, and he gained 10 players, it’s nearly impossible. And then put another philosophy into it, it’s very difficult.”