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Having secured six victories from six matches, an unbreached defense and a World Cup spot confirmed with matches remaining, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel can argue he has chosen wisely throughout qualification.

Yet, in the preparation for Thursday's home game against Serbia, he raised questions when he claimed that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - are unable to feature in the equivalent formation.

"Presently, if we stick with the system, they are unable to feature.

"They can but not in the structure, not for the balance that we established and not for the structure that also includes 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 utilized out wide for England in the past, but his team selections indicate that Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka are his first choices on the wing positions respectively.

The question remains whether Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously?

Gareth Southgate apparently believed they could.

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

In the 16 matches the stars have performed together, England have triumphed 10 times, drawn three and lost three, netting 36 goals and letting in 14 strikes.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

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

The Aston Villa player has been the key creative force because of his excellent dribbling, strike quality and skill in entering the penalty area when the forward retreats.

Tuchel has discussed favoring specialist wingers. The wide attackers consistently operate in wide areas and can retain the ball skillfully, take their full-back on, and appear in scoring positions.

Behind this front four, Tuchel plays with a midfield two consisting of one defensively strict player and one with more license to join the forward movement.

What solutions exist for the trio?

Foden and Bellingham would be vying against attacking alternatives for the creative hub, with Kane expected to lead up front.

Foden could play as the main forward, which potentially could allow both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane.

There is an alternative approach all three could play in this system and Tuchel hinted at it this week.

"At Manchester City, he operates similarly to a box-to-box or creative role, so potentially in future we regard him as a number eight," he said.

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

That has allowed him to take responsibility deeper and could position him as the central midfielder, paired with a defensive anchor.

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

Irrespective of whether Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the international competition, what appears positive is his preparedness to omit established stars in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.