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With six wins out of six, an unbreached defense and tournament placement assured before the final rounds, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel can argue he has made the right selection choices.

Yet, in the preparation for Thursday's domestic match against Serbia, he initiated discussion 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.

"Currently, if we maintain the formation, they cannot play.

"They might but not in the structure, not for the balance that we created and not within the framework that comes also with wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We currently utilize with specific numbered positions."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

Foden and Bellingham have been used in wide positions for England in the past, but the manager's choices imply that Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka are his primary selections on the wing positions respectively.

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

Former Three Lions boss evidently thought it possible.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven games at Euro 2024 in Germany, where Southgate's side were defeated by Spain in the final.

In the 16 matches the three have featured together, England have won 10, tied three matches and suffered three losses, netting 36 goals and conceding 14.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

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

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

Tuchel has mentioned preferring specialist wingers. The wide attackers play out wide weekly and can maintain possession effectively, challenge defenders, and arrive in the box to score.

Behind this front four, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a holding midfielder and a partner with attacking liberty to support offensive play.

What solutions exist for the trio?

Foden and Bellingham would be vying against attacking alternatives for the number 10 role, with Kane expected to lead up front.

Foden could feature as the central striker, which potentially could enable both Bellingham and Foden to operate without the captain.

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

"For Man City, he functions as a number eight or 10, so maybe during the next months we view 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 make him an option as the advanced playmaker, alongside a holding midfielder.

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

No matter whether Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the global tournament, what bodes well is his readiness to exclude star names in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.