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With six wins out of six, zero goals allowed and tournament placement secured with two group games to spare, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel can argue he has got all of his big qualifying decisions correct.

Yet, in the preparation for Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he raised questions when he said that three of the country's best players - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - are unable to feature in the equivalent formation.

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

"They can but not in the structure, not maintaining equilibrium that we created and not for the structure that comes also with wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We play at the moment with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From automatic picks to contested places

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been utilized out wide for England in the past, but Tuchel's selections indicate that the Barcelona loanee and the Gunners' star are his primary selections on the wing positions respectively.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously?

The previous England manager apparently believed they could.

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

In the 16 fixtures the three have featured simultaneously, England have secured 10 victories, drawn three and lost three, registering 36 scores and allowing 14 goals.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

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

Morgan Rogers has been the key creative force because of his impressive ball progression, shooting ability and capacity to penetrate the area when the number nine withdraws.

Tuchel has discussed favoring specialist wingers. Saka and Gordon play out wide weekly and can hold the ball well, engage in one-on-one situations, and arrive in the box to score.

Behind this front four, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a disciplined defensive presence and one with more license to support offensive play.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with attacking alternatives for the attacking midfield position, with Kane likely to start up front.

Foden could operate as the number nine, which potentially could permit both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane.

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

"With his club, he operates similarly to a box-to-box or creative role, so maybe during the next months we view him as a central midfielder," he said.

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

That has enabled him to operate from deeper areas and could make him an option as the advanced playmaker, next to a more defensive number six.

This would then allow Bellingham to play as the attacking midfielder and Kane as the center forward.

Regardless of if Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the global tournament, what bodes well is his readiness to exclude star names in the name of balance.