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Having secured six victories out of six, an unbreached defense and tournament placement confirmed with matches remaining, national team coach Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has made the right selection choices.

Yet, in the lead-up to Thursday's home game against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he claimed that three of the country's best players - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - are unable to feature in the identical lineup.

"Currently, if we keep the structure, they won't fit together.

"They might but not in the structure, not preserving harmony that we established and not in this formation that incorporates wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We play at the moment with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From automatic picks to contested places

England's creative talents have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but the manager's choices imply that the Barcelona loanee and the Gunners' star are his first choices on the wide areas respectively.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane coexist in the lineup?

Gareth Southgate apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven matches at Euro 2024 in Germany, where the national squad fell to the Spanish in the final.

In the 16 games the stars have performed simultaneously, England have won 10, tied three matches and lost three, scoring 36 times and conceding 14.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

Tuchel has utilized a 4-2-3-1 formation that changes shape when England attack.

The Aston Villa player has been the main number 10 because of his excellent dribbling, strike quality and capacity to penetrate the area when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring dedicated wide players. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars play out wide weekly and can hold the ball well, challenge defenders, and appear in scoring positions.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a holding midfielder and a partner with attacking liberty to join the forward movement.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be vying against other creative midfielders for the creative hub, with Kane probably featuring up front.

Foden could feature as the number nine, which in theory could allow both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

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

"At Manchester City, he operates similarly to a central or attacking midfielder, so perhaps in coming months we consider him as a number eight," he said.

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

That has permitted him to contribute from midfield and could categorize him as the number eight, alongside a holding midfielder.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the number 10 and Kane as the nine.

Regardless of if Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the global tournament, what appears positive is his preparedness to omit established stars in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.