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With six wins in six games, zero goals allowed and a World Cup spot secured with two group games to spare, national team coach Thomas Tuchel can argue he has made the right selection choices.

Nevertheless, in the build-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he raised questions when he said that three of the country's best players - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - are unable to feature in the identical lineup.

"At the moment, if we maintain the formation, they won't fit together.

"They might but not in the structure, not for the balance that we established and not for the structure that comes also with wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We play at the moment with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From automatic picks to contested places

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been utilized out wide for England in the past, but Tuchel's selections imply that the Manchester United forward and the Gunners' star are his first choices on the wide areas respectively.

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

The previous England manager evidently thought it possible.

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 fixtures the three have featured alongside each other, England have triumphed 10 times, shared points three times and lost three, netting 36 goals and conceding 14.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

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

Morgan Rogers has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his impressive ball progression, strike quality and ability to attack the box when the forward retreats.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring dedicated wide players. The wide attackers consistently operate in wide areas and can hold the ball well, challenge defenders, and arrive in the box to score.

Behind this front four, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of a disciplined defensive presence and another with greater freedom to join the forward movement.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze for the number 10 role, with Kane probably featuring up front.

Foden could operate as the central striker, which theoretically could allow both Bellingham and Foden to operate without the captain.

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

"For Man City, he functions as a central or attacking midfielder, so maybe during the next months we regard 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 categorize him as the central midfielder, alongside a holding midfielder.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the attacking midfielder and Kane as the striker.

Regardless of if Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the World Cup, what appears positive is his preparedness to omit established stars in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.