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With six wins out of six, zero goals allowed and a World Cup spot assured before the final rounds, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel might claim he has made the right selection choices.

However, in the lead-up to Thursday's home game against Serbia, he raised questions when he claimed that three of the country's best players - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the same team.

"At the moment, if we keep the structure, they won't fit together.

"It's possible but not with current tactics, not for the balance that we created and not for the structure that also includes wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We play at the moment with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From automatic picks to contested places

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been utilized out wide for England in the past, but the manager's choices imply that the Manchester United forward and Bukayo Saka are his primary selections on the wide areas respectively.

The question remains whether Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

Former Three Lions boss certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane started all of England's seven fixtures at Euro 2024 in Germany, where the England team fell to the Spanish in the final.

In the 16 games the stars have performed alongside each other, England have secured 10 victories, tied three matches and lost three, scoring 36 times and conceding 14.

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 primary attacking midfielder because of his strong ball-carrying, shooting ability and capacity to penetrate the area when the forward retreats.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring dedicated wide players. The wide attackers regularly feature on the wings and can retain the ball skillfully, engage in one-on-one situations, and enter the area to finish.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of a disciplined defensive presence and a partner with attacking liberty to support offensive play.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be vying against attacking alternatives for the creative hub, with Kane probably featuring up front.

Foden could play as the central striker, which theoretically could enable both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane.

There is an alternative approach all three could feature together and Tuchel suggested it this week.

"With his club, he plays almost like a central or attacking midfielder, 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 position him as the advanced playmaker, next to a more defensive number six.

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

Regardless of if Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the international competition, what bodes well is his willingness to leave big players out in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.