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With six wins from six matches, an unbreached defense and tournament placement confirmed with matches remaining, England manager Thomas Tuchel might claim he has made the right selection choices.

Nevertheless, in the build-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he initiated discussion when he claimed that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the same team.

"At the moment, if we maintain the formation, they are unable to feature.

"It's possible but not in the structure, not preserving harmony that we established and not for the structure that comes also with wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We currently utilize with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From automatic picks to contested places

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but his team selections suggest that the Barcelona loanee and Arsenal's winger are his primary selections on the wing positions respectively.

But can Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously?

Former Three Lions boss certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven matches at last summer's tournament in Germany, where Southgate's side fell to the Spanish in the final.

In the 16 games the stars have performed together, England have won 10, shared points three times and lost three, registering 36 scores and conceding 14.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

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

The Aston Villa player has been the main number 10 because of his excellent dribbling, shooting ability and capacity to penetrate the area when the forward retreats.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring specialist wingers. Saka and Gordon regularly feature on the wings and can maintain possession effectively, take their full-back on, and arrive in the box to score.

In midfield behind the attackers, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of a holding midfielder and another with greater freedom to support offensive play.

What solutions exist for the trio?

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

Foden could play as the number nine, which potentially could enable both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

There is one way all three could feature together and Tuchel hinted at it this week.

"At Manchester City, he plays almost like a number eight or 10, so perhaps in coming months we regard him as a box-to-box player," he said.

Foden has been utilized as a flexible midfielder this season.

That has enabled him to operate from deeper areas and could categorize him as the advanced playmaker, alongside a holding midfielder.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the attacking midfielder and Kane as the nine.

No matter whether Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the global tournament, what seems encouraging is his preparedness to omit established stars in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.