Such is Anderlecht’s poor form; they lie 14th in the 16-team league despite recruiting the likes of Samir Nasri, Nacer Chadli and Kemar Roofe over the summer.
Kompany’s role as player-manager was altered last week in a move that will see first-team coach Simon Davies take charge of tactics on matchdays but De Bruyne is optimistic his former captain will eventually be successful if given time.
"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," De Bruyne told reporters.
"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. I know Vinny pretty well and he probably won't care what people say about it.
"I spoke with him a few times, he's enjoying it. 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.
"Obviously he didn't start well in terms of points, but I can understand it a little bit because he is trying to play a style that we did [at City] and obviously we had growing pains, so I can understand that.
"Football is a business where you get points, but I think he will get time. In Belgium only one is relegated, so I don't think he needs to worry about that! If he gets the time, that will be nice."
