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With six wins out of six, no goals conceded and World Cup qualification assured before the final rounds, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has got all of his big qualifying decisions correct.

Nevertheless, in the preparation for Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he stated that three of the nation's top talents - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the equivalent formation.

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

"They might but not within this system, not maintaining equilibrium that we developed and not for the structure that comes also with wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We presently employ with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From certain starters to fighting for spots

Foden and Bellingham have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but Tuchel's selections 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?

The previous England manager certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane were selected for each England's seven matches at last summer's tournament in Germany, where the England team lost to Spain in the final.

In the 16 fixtures the trio have played together, England have won 10, shared points three times and lost three, netting 36 goals and allowing 14 goals.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

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

The Aston Villa player has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his strong ball-carrying, strike quality and capacity to penetrate the area when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring specialist wingers. The wide attackers play out wide weekly and can retain the ball skillfully, take their full-back on, and arrive in the box to score.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of a disciplined defensive presence and one with more license to join the forward movement.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

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

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

There is one way all three could play in this system and Tuchel alluded to it this week.

"With his club, he operates similarly to a number eight or 10, so potentially in future we regard him as a box-to-box player," 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 categorize him as the central midfielder, next to a more defensive number six.

This would then allow Bellingham to play as the creative force and Kane as the striker.

Regardless of if Tuchel decides to set England up like this at the global tournament, what bodes well is his willingness to leave big players out in the name of balance.