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Having secured six victories from six matches, zero goals allowed and tournament placement assured before the final rounds, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel might claim he has made the right selection choices.

Yet, in the build-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he said that three of the country's best players - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the equivalent formation.

"Currently, if we keep the structure, they are unable to feature.

"They can but not in the structure, not preserving harmony that we developed and not in this formation that comes also with wingers who are like specialists 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 used in wide positions for England in the past, but his team selections suggest that the Barcelona loanee and the Gunners' star are his first choices on the wing positions respectively.

But can Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously?

Gareth Southgate certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane were selected for each England's seven matches at the European Championship in Germany, where Southgate's side were defeated by Spain in the final.

In the 16 games the three have featured simultaneously, England have won 10, tied three matches and suffered three losses, registering 36 scores and letting in 14 strikes.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

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

Morgan Rogers has been the main number 10 because of his strong ball-carrying, ball-striking and ability to attack the box when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring specialist wingers. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars consistently operate in wide areas and can retain the ball skillfully, challenge defenders, and arrive in the box to score.

Behind this front four, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of one defensively strict player and a partner with attacking liberty 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 attacking midfield position, with Kane expected to lead up front.

Foden could play as the central striker, which potentially could enable both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

There is a potential solution all three could play in this system and Tuchel alluded to it this week.

"For Man City, he operates similarly to a box-to-box or creative role, so potentially in future we consider him as a number eight," 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 number eight, alongside a holding midfielder.

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

Irrespective of whether Tuchel decides to set England up like this at the international competition, what seems encouraging is his readiness to exclude star names in the interest of team harmony.