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After achieving six consecutive triumphs from six matches, an unbreached defense and tournament placement secured with two group games to spare, national team coach Thomas Tuchel might claim he has chosen wisely throughout qualification.

Yet, in the build-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he initiated discussion when he said that three of the nation's top talents - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the equivalent formation.

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

"They can but not in the structure, not maintaining equilibrium that we developed and not for the structure that comes also with wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We play at the moment with specific numbered positions."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

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

The question remains whether Bellingham, Foden and Kane coexist in the lineup?

Gareth Southgate apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane were selected for each England's seven matches at last summer's tournament in Germany, where Southgate's side fell to the Spanish in the final.

In the 16 fixtures the three have featured simultaneously, England have won 10, tied three matches and lost three, registering 36 scores 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 young midfielder has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his excellent dribbling, shooting ability and capacity to penetrate the area when the number nine withdraws.

Tuchel has discussed favoring natural flank operators. Saka and Gordon consistently operate in wide areas and can retain the ball skillfully, engage in one-on-one situations, and appear in scoring positions.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of a disciplined defensive presence and another with greater freedom to contribute to the attack.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze for the creative hub, with Kane expected to lead up front.

Foden could feature as the number nine, which potentially could permit both Bellingham and Foden to operate without the captain.

There is one way all three could coexist effectively 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 used in a more all-purpose midfield role this season.

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

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

Regardless of if Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the World Cup, what seems encouraging is his readiness to exclude star names in the interest of team harmony.