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With six wins in six games, an unbreached defense and tournament placement confirmed with matches remaining, England manager Thomas Tuchel might claim he has chosen wisely throughout qualification.

Nevertheless, in the lead-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he initiated discussion when he stated that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - are unable to feature in the identical lineup.

"At the moment, 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 in this formation that also includes wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We currently utilize with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From automatic picks to contested places

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but the manager's choices imply that the Barcelona loanee and Arsenal's winger are his preferred options 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 matches at the European Championship in Germany, where the national squad were defeated by Spain in the final.

In the 16 matches the trio have played together, England have triumphed 10 times, shared points three times and suffered three losses, netting 36 goals and letting in 14 strikes.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

Tuchel has played a 4-2-3-1 system that alters structure when England attack.

Morgan Rogers has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his impressive ball progression, shooting ability and skill in entering the penalty area when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has discussed favoring natural flank operators. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars 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 utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a holding midfielder and a partner with attacking liberty to support offensive play.

What solutions exist for the trio?

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with attacking alternatives for the creative hub, with Kane expected to lead up front.

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

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

"At Manchester City, he plays almost like a central or attacking midfielder, so potentially in future we view him as a number eight," he said.

Foden has been used in a more all-purpose midfield role this season.

That has permitted him to contribute from midfield and could position him as the central midfielder, alongside a holding midfielder.

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

Irrespective of whether Tuchel decides to set England up like this at the global tournament, what bodes well is his readiness to exclude star names in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.