Wayne Rooney urges England to immediately replace Thomas Tuchel with 'top-class' manager

Wayne Rooney thinks there is only one candidate available who should replace Thomas Tuchel as England manager.

Tuchel has received widespread criticism from players, fans and many in the football media for his decision-making in England's 2-1 defeat against Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals.

England initially took the lead through Anthony Gordon at the start of the second half, but instead of pressing for a second, the Germans did what many of their predecessors were guilty of.

The former Chelsea boss reverted to a five-man defence by replacing goalscorer Gordon with Ezri Konsa before introducing Dan Burn and Nico O'Reilly shortly after.

The Three Lions were ultimately punished as this negativity only invited huge pressure from Argentina, and they turned the game around with late goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez.

Tuchel blamed a weakness in "English football DNA" for the defeat, insisting that his team can't control the game in the same way Argentina or Spain can.

But the final 20 minutes of the match only made people question whether the 52-year-old is the right man to lead the Three Lions forward.

According to reports, Tuchel retains the FA's support to lead England into Euro 2028, but if they reverse that decision, Wayne Rooney believes Pep Guardiola is the only manager who should replace him.

"I don’t see anyone else out there at the minute, unless you go and get Pep Guardiola,” the former Manchester United striker said on the Wayne Rooney Show.

“If Pep is available, then maybe you go and get him. I think he is a top-class manager and what the top managers do, they learn from the mistakes, and they improve and get better.

“If we sack him, what managers are we going to bring in? And I don’t think there’s anyone out there who’s as good as Thomas Tuchel, unless Guardiola.

“But the big thing for me is he’s not experienced at World Cups. We had the exact same with (Fabio) Capello.

“The World Cup is different and you need to feel that environment and now he’s felt it.”

England reportedly had a verbal agreement with Guardiola two years ago before he opted to stay at Manchester City for another season.

Six months later, Tuchel was officially appointed in January 2025, and it appears he could remain in charge until after Euro 2028.

Marc Guehi was bemused by Thomas Tuchel's decision vs Argentina

England were agonisingly close to reaching their first World Cup final in 60 years, only to capitulate in the final 10 minutes.

Everyone inside the stadium and at home knew what was coming, apart from Tuchel, and defender Marc Guehi was even baffled by his decision-making in the second half.

“We should have carried on. We should have carried on pushing. It kind of felt like we scored and then the mentality was go back, defend," Guehi said.

He was then asked: “Finally, there's been so much good in this tournament and over recent years in particular. Do you have the belief that this is the group to finally get over the line and win silverware for England?”

“I don't know. I don't know. It's hard to think about the future right now. At this moment, it's just disappointment. That's all," the Manchester City defender bluntly replied.

It says a lot when even the players are questioning Tuchel's tactics and it's his job to restore belief in the squad.