Wayne Rooney has said that England should stick with Thomas Tuchel — unless Pep Guardiola is available and willing to take on the job as manager.
Tuchel has been under fire since England‘s World Cup exit to Argentina on Wednesday, a game which saw Anthony Gordon‘s opener wiped out by two late strikes from Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez.
The former Chelsea manager was criticised both for the side’s style of play after going a goal up and the defensive nature of some of his substitutions.
Ezri Konsa replaced Gordon on 72 minutes while Dan Burn also replaced Reece James while England held the lead, but an attacking player did not come into the fray until Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney were introduced after Argentina took the lead in the 92nd minute.
Guardiola, who is out of work having left Manchester City at the end of last season, has previously said that he would like to manage an international team at some point in his career.
But when leaving City, Guardiola said he plans to “rest” and insisted he won’t work again “for a while.”
Despite England’s capitulation on Wednesday and the shift in public mood against Tuchel, former Manchester United and England striker Rooney has urged the FA to keep faith in the German coach unless a better alternative can be sought.
“I don’t see anyone else out there at the minute, unless you go and get Pep Guardiola,” he 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 [Tuchel], 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.”
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Tuchel signed a contract extension in February to take him through to Euro 2028, a tournament which England co-host.
Alongside the defeat to Argentina, the German manager’s original squad selection has been a source criticism.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Morgan Gibbs-White and Adam Wharton were all left out of the travelling party that went to the U.S.
“I think he’s made mistakes with the squad selection,” Rooney said.
“You can’t expect to win a World Cup and have a squad that is just happy and happy around the camp.
“You need debate, you need players to, you know, have conversations and not agree with you.
“You need players with their own personalities, their own opinions, their own character to question the manager at times.
“Top managers like that, they like that, then you can debate it. So, yes, I think looking back, he’ll have regrets.
“But I still think he’s as good as any manager out there to lead us into the next tournament, in my opinion.”
