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Having secured six victories out of six, an unbreached defense and World Cup qualification confirmed with matches remaining, national team coach Thomas Tuchel can argue he has got all of his big qualifying decisions correct.

Yet, in the build-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he raised questions when he stated that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the identical lineup.

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

"It's possible but not with current tactics, not maintaining equilibrium that we established and not within the framework that comes also with wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We currently utilize with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

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 imply that the Manchester United forward and the Gunners' star are his preferred options on the wing positions respectively.

But can Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously?

Gareth Southgate apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven games at the European Championship in Germany, where the national squad fell to the Spanish in the final.

In the 16 fixtures the stars have performed simultaneously, England have secured 10 victories, tied three matches and been defeated three times, registering 36 scores and letting in 14 strikes.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

Tuchel has utilized a 4-2-3-1 formation that changes shape when England attack.

Morgan Rogers has been the main number 10 because of his strong ball-carrying, shooting ability and ability to attack the box when the number nine withdraws.

Tuchel has discussed favoring specialist wingers. Saka and Gordon play out wide weekly and can hold the ball well, take their full-back on, and arrive in the box to score.

Behind this front four, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders 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 other creative midfielders 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 play at Kane's expense.

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 central midfielder," he said.

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

That has permitted him to contribute from midfield and could position him as the central midfielder, alongside a holding midfielder.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the number 10 and Kane as the striker.

Regardless of if Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the World Cup, what bodes well is his readiness to exclude star names in the interest of team harmony.