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Having secured six victories from six matches, no goals conceded and World Cup qualification secured with two group games to spare, England manager Thomas Tuchel might claim he has made the right selection choices.

Yet, in the build-up to Thursday's domestic match against Serbia, he raised questions when he stated that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the identical lineup.

"Currently, if we keep the structure, they won't fit together.

"It's possible but not within this system, not for the balance that we created and not for the structure that comes also with wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We presently employ with specific numbered positions."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but his team selections indicate that Marcus Rashford and Arsenal's winger are his preferred options on the wing positions respectively.

The question remains whether Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously?

The previous England manager apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane started all of England's seven fixtures at last summer's tournament in Germany, where the national squad were defeated by Spain in the final.

In the 16 fixtures the three have featured together, England have triumphed 10 times, drawn three and suffered three losses, netting 36 goals and letting in 14 strikes.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

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

The young midfielder has been the main number 10 because of his strong ball-carrying, shooting ability and capacity to penetrate the area when the forward retreats.

Tuchel has mentioned preferring specialist wingers. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars regularly feature on the wings and can maintain possession effectively, take their full-back on, and arrive in the box to score.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a holding midfielder and one with more license 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 creative hub, with Kane expected to lead up front.

Foden could play as the main forward, which in theory could enable both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

There is one way all three could coexist effectively and Tuchel hinted at it this week.

"With his club, he functions as a number eight or 10, so potentially in future 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 position him as the number eight, alongside a holding midfielder.

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

Irrespective of whether Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the global tournament, what bodes well is his readiness to exclude star names in the interest of team harmony.