Wayne Rooney on Thomas Tuchel: Stay the Course or Pursue Guardiola

Wayne Rooney believes the Football Association should stay the course with Thomas Tuchel – unless the game’s most coveted coach suddenly walks through the door.

For the former England captain, the equation is simple: keep Tuchel, or move heaven and earth for Pep Guardiola.

Tuchel remains in post after England’s 2-1 World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina on Wednesday, a night when a controlled 1-0 lead slipped away late and his substitutions drew heavy fire. The German has made it clear he intends to continue and lead the Three Lions into Euro 2028, and the FA has backed him publicly.

Rooney, though, drew a clear line when speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show.

"I don't see anyone else out there at the minute, unless you go and get Pep Guardiola. If Pep is available, then maybe you go and get him," he said, laying out the only scenario in which he would move on from Tuchel.

He stressed both Tuchel’s quality and the scarcity of elite alternatives.

"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."

That “unless” hangs over the whole debate. The FA sounded out Guardiola before appointing Tuchel, with reports of a verbal agreement at one stage, before the former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain coach took the job in January 2025 on an 18-month deal geared explicitly towards winning the World Cup. Tuchel then signed a two-year extension in February, stretching his tenure beyond the tournament and into the next cycle.

Rooney questioned that timing.

"I think the FA told us that Thomas Tuchel was coming in to win the World Cup and take us to the next level," he said. "It's a little bit strange if its priority was to win the World Cup, but then you get a two-year contract before you actually go to the World Cup. That's a bit strange."

The semi-final defeat has sharpened scrutiny. Tuchel’s in-game decisions against Argentina have been pulled apart, yet Rooney argued that international tournament nous can only be earned the hard way.

"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."

That, in Rooney’s eyes, is precisely why the FA should resist a reflex dismissal. Tuchel has taken the hit, absorbed the unique pressure of a World Cup, and carries the scars into the next campaign.

Unless, of course, Guardiola really is within reach.