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Having secured six victories in six games, an unbreached defense and a World Cup spot assured before the final rounds, England manager Thomas Tuchel might claim he has made the right selection choices.

However, in the build-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he initiated discussion when he said that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the equivalent formation.

"Currently, if we stick with the system, they won't fit together.

"They might but not with current tactics, not for the balance that we created and not within the framework that incorporates wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We currently utilize with specific numbered positions."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

Foden and Bellingham have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but his team selections imply that the Manchester United forward and Bukayo Saka are his primary selections on the wing positions respectively.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

The previous England manager evidently thought it possible.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven games at last summer's tournament in Germany, where the England team lost to Spain in the final.

In the 16 matches the stars have performed alongside each other, England have won 10, shared points three times and lost three, netting 36 goals and conceding 14.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

Tuchel has played a 4-2-3-1 system that changes shape when England attack.

The young midfielder has been the main number 10 because of his excellent dribbling, ball-striking and capacity to penetrate the area when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has mentioned preferring specialist wingers. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars play out wide weekly and can retain the ball skillfully, engage in one-on-one situations, and appear in scoring positions.

Behind this front four, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a holding midfielder and another with greater freedom to join the forward movement.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be battling with other creative midfielders for the number 10 role, with Kane likely to start up front.

Foden could play as the central striker, which in theory could permit both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

There is a potential solution all three could coexist effectively and Tuchel alluded to it this week.

"For Man City, he operates similarly to a number eight or 10, so perhaps in coming months we view him as a number eight," he said.

Foden has been deployed in a versatile central position this season.

That has enabled him to operate from deeper areas and could categorize him as the number eight, paired with a defensive anchor.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the attacking midfielder and Kane as the striker.

No matter whether Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the international competition, what bodes well is his readiness to exclude star names in the interest of team harmony.