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With six wins from six matches, an unbreached defense and tournament placement secured with two group games to spare, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has made the right selection choices.

However, in the build-up to Thursday's home game against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he stated that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the equivalent formation.

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

"They might but not in the structure, not preserving harmony that we developed and not in this formation that comes also with wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We play at the moment with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

Foden and Bellingham have been utilized out wide for England in the past, but his team selections suggest that the Barcelona loanee and Arsenal's winger are his first choices on the wing positions respectively.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane coexist in the lineup?

The previous England manager apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane were selected for each 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 three have featured together, England have triumphed 10 times, tied three matches and suffered three losses, scoring 36 times and conceding 14.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

Tuchel has employed a four-two-three-one setup that alters structure when England attack.

The young midfielder has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his impressive ball progression, shooting ability and skill in entering the penalty area when the forward retreats.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring dedicated wide players. Saka and Gordon play out wide weekly and can maintain possession effectively, engage in one-on-one situations, and arrive in the box to score.

Behind this front four, Tuchel plays with a midfield two consisting of a holding midfielder and a partner with attacking liberty 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 creative hub, with Kane probably featuring up front.

Foden could operate as the number nine, which theoretically could enable 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.

"With his club, he functions as a number eight or 10, so potentially in future we view him as a number eight," he said.

Foden has been utilized as a flexible midfielder this season.

That has allowed him to take responsibility deeper and could position him as the number eight, next to a more defensive number six.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the creative force and Kane as the center forward.

Irrespective of whether Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the international competition, what appears positive is his readiness to exclude star names in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.