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Having secured six victories out of six, an unbreached defense and a World Cup spot secured with two group games to spare, national team coach Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has chosen wisely throughout qualification.

Yet, in the preparation for Thursday's domestic match against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he said that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - are unable to feature in the equivalent formation.

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

"They can but not within this system, not maintaining equilibrium that we created and not within the framework that incorporates wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We currently utilize with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

Foden and Bellingham have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but his team selections suggest that Marcus Rashford and Arsenal's winger are his preferred options on the wing positions respectively.

But can Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously?

The previous England manager apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven fixtures at Euro 2024 in Germany, where the England team lost to Spain in the final.

In the 16 games the three have featured together, England have won 10, tied three matches and been defeated three times, scoring 36 times and allowing 14 goals.

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 strong ball-carrying, shooting ability and capacity to penetrate the area when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has discussed favoring dedicated wide players. Saka and Gordon consistently operate in wide areas and can retain the ball skillfully, take their full-back on, and appear in scoring positions.

In midfield behind the attackers, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a disciplined defensive presence and another with greater freedom to support offensive play.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with other creative midfielders for the creative hub, with Kane likely to start up front.

Foden could feature as the main forward, which in theory could allow both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane.

There is an alternative approach all three could play in this system and Tuchel alluded to it this week.

"At Manchester City, he operates similarly to a box-to-box or creative role, so perhaps in coming months we consider 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 number eight, alongside a holding midfielder.

This would then allow Bellingham to play as the number 10 and Kane as the nine.

No matter whether Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the global tournament, what bodes well is his readiness to exclude star names in the interest of team harmony.