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With six wins in six games, zero goals allowed and a World Cup spot assured before the final rounds, national team coach Thomas Tuchel might claim he has made the right selection choices.

Yet, in the lead-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he initiated discussion when he claimed that three of the country's best players - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the identical lineup.

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

"They can but not in the structure, not maintaining equilibrium that we established and not within the framework that also includes wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We currently utilize with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been utilized out wide for England in the past, but his team selections imply that the Barcelona loanee and Bukayo Saka are his primary selections on the left and right flank respectively.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

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 matches the three have featured simultaneously, England have secured 10 victories, shared points three times and been defeated three times, scoring 36 times and conceding 14.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

Tuchel has employed a four-two-three-one setup that changes shape when England attack.

Morgan Rogers has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his excellent dribbling, shooting ability and capacity to penetrate the area when the forward retreats.

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

In midfield behind the attackers, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of a holding midfielder and another with greater freedom to support offensive play.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be battling with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze for the number 10 role, with Kane likely to start up front.

Foden could operate as the number nine, which theoretically could allow both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane.

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

"At Manchester City, he plays almost like a box-to-box or creative role, so maybe during the next months we consider him as a box-to-box player," he said.

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

That has enabled him to operate from deeper areas and could make him an option as the number eight, paired with a defensive anchor.

This would then permit Bellingham to feature as the creative force and Kane as the nine.

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.