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With six wins out of six, an unbreached defense and a World Cup spot secured with two group games to spare, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel might claim he has chosen wisely throughout qualification.

Yet, in the lead-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he claimed that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the identical lineup.

"At the moment, if we keep the structure, they are unable to feature.

"They might but not within this system, not maintaining equilibrium that we established and not within the framework that incorporates wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We presently employ with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From automatic picks to contested places

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been used in wide positions for England in the past, but the manager's choices imply that Marcus Rashford and Arsenal's winger are his preferred options on the left and right flank respectively.

But can Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously?

Gareth Southgate apparently believed they could.

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

In the 16 matches the stars have performed alongside each other, England have won 10, tied three matches and been defeated three times, registering 36 scores and letting in 14 strikes.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

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

The Aston Villa player has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his excellent dribbling, shooting ability and capacity to penetrate the area when the number nine withdraws.

Tuchel has mentioned preferring natural flank operators. Saka and Gordon play out wide weekly and can maintain possession effectively, take their full-back on, and arrive in the box to score.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of a disciplined defensive presence and a partner with attacking liberty to join the forward movement.

What solutions exist for the trio?

Foden and Bellingham would be vying against other creative midfielders for the number 10 role, with Kane expected to lead up front.

Foden could operate as the main forward, which in theory could enable both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane.

There is one way all three could coexist effectively and Tuchel alluded to it this week.

"For Man City, he plays almost like a box-to-box or creative role, so maybe during the next months we consider him as a box-to-box player," 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 central midfielder, paired with a defensive anchor.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the creative force and Kane as the center forward.

Irrespective of whether Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the international competition, what seems encouraging is his willingness to leave big players out in the interest of team harmony.