Guardiola started his time in England with 10 straight wins in all competitions but his new side started to struggle towards the end of the year, and they are now in fourth place -- seven points behind leaders Chelsea after 20 games.

The Catalan appeared to be showing the strain of his side's erratic form during his tetchy postmatch appearances following Monday's narrow 2-1 win over Burnley, but Ancelotti, who led Chelsea to Premier League success in 2010, has backed his colleague to come through his patchy start in England.

"I'm not surprised that Guardiola is being criticised," Ancelotti said at Bayern's winter training camp in Doha, Qatar. "That's normal in our job when you don't win. When everything is going well, the praise goes to the team, but when you lose the coach is to blame.

"It's not easy for a trainer to get used to a new club and a new league.

"He simply needs time. In the end, I'm convinced he'll do a fantastic job at Manchester City, just like he did at Bayern."