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Having secured six victories out of six, no goals conceded and tournament placement secured with two group games to spare, England manager Thomas Tuchel might claim he has chosen wisely throughout qualification.

Yet, in the preparation for 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 - are unable to feature in the same team.

"At the moment, if we stick with the system, they cannot play.

"It's possible but not in the structure, not maintaining equilibrium that we created and not within the framework that also includes wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We currently utilize with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From automatic picks to contested places

England's creative talents have been used in wide positions for England in the past, but his team selections imply that Marcus Rashford and the Gunners' star are his preferred options on the wide areas respectively.

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

The previous England manager certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane started all of England's seven games at Euro 2024 in Germany, where the England team were defeated by Spain in the final.

In the 16 games the trio have played alongside each other, England have won 10, tied three matches and suffered three losses, netting 36 goals and allowing 14 goals.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

Tuchel has employed a four-two-three-one setup that changes shape when England attack.

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

Tuchel has mentioned preferring dedicated wide players. Saka and Gordon play out wide weekly and can retain the ball skillfully, take their full-back on, and appear in scoring positions.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel plays with a midfield two consisting of a holding midfielder and one with more license to join the forward movement.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be battling with attacking alternatives for the number 10 role, with Kane probably featuring up front.

Foden could play as the central striker, which in theory could enable both Bellingham and Foden to operate without the captain.

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

"With his club, he operates similarly to a number eight or 10, so maybe during the next months we consider 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, next to a more defensive number six.

This would then permit Bellingham to feature as the attacking midfielder and Kane as the striker.

Irrespective of whether Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the international competition, what appears positive is his preparedness to omit established stars in the interest of team harmony.