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With six wins in six games, no goals conceded and tournament placement assured before the final rounds, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel can argue he has chosen wisely throughout qualification.

Yet, in the build-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he stated that three of the country's best players - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the equivalent formation.

"At the moment, if we maintain the formation, they won't fit together.

"They can but not within this system, not maintaining equilibrium that we established and not in this formation that also includes wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We presently employ with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but Tuchel's selections imply that the Manchester United forward and Bukayo Saka are his preferred options on the wing positions respectively.

The question remains whether Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

Former Three Lions boss apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane were selected for each England's seven fixtures at the European Championship in Germany, where Southgate's side fell to the Spanish in the final.

In the 16 matches the stars have performed alongside each other, England have triumphed 10 times, shared points three times and suffered three losses, registering 36 scores and conceding 14.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

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

The Aston Villa player has been the main number 10 because of his strong ball-carrying, shooting ability and ability to attack the box when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has mentioned preferring dedicated wide players. The wide attackers play out wide weekly and can maintain possession effectively, engage in one-on-one situations, and appear in scoring positions.

Behind this front four, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of one defensively strict player and another with greater freedom to contribute to the attack.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze for the attacking midfield position, with Kane likely to start up front.

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

There is one way all three could feature together and Tuchel alluded to it this week.

"At Manchester City, he plays almost like a box-to-box or creative role, so maybe during the next months we regard 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, alongside a holding midfielder.

This would then allow Bellingham to play as the number 10 and Kane as the center forward.

Irrespective of whether Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the global tournament, what bodes well is his preparedness to omit established stars in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.