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Having secured six victories out of six, an unbreached defense and tournament placement assured before the final rounds, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel might claim he has made the right selection choices.

However, in the lead-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he raised questions when he claimed that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the identical lineup.

"Currently, if we maintain the formation, they cannot play.

"They might but not in the structure, not maintaining equilibrium that we developed and not within the framework that comes also with wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We play at the moment with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

England's creative talents have been utilized out wide for England in the past, but the manager's choices imply that the Barcelona loanee and the Gunners' star are his preferred options on the wide areas respectively.

But can Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously?

Former Three Lions boss certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven matches at last summer's tournament in Germany, where Southgate's side lost to Spain in the final.

In the 16 matches the trio have played together, England have won 10, drawn three and lost three, scoring 36 times and conceding 14.

Analysis: Foden's versatility gives Tuchel options

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 impressive ball progression, shooting ability and skill in entering the penalty area when the forward retreats.

Tuchel has mentioned preferring dedicated wide players. The wide attackers play out wide weekly and can hold the ball well, challenge defenders, and enter the area to finish.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of one defensively strict player and another with greater freedom to contribute to the attack.

Potential configurations for England's stars

Foden and Bellingham would be battling with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze for the number 10 role, with Kane expected to lead up front.

Foden could feature as the number nine, which potentially could permit both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane.

There is a potential solution all three could play in this system and Tuchel suggested it this week.

"At Manchester City, he operates similarly to a central or attacking midfielder, so potentially in future we view him as a central midfielder," 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 advanced playmaker, next to a more defensive number six.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the number 10 and Kane as the striker.

Regardless of if Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the global tournament, what bodes well is his preparedness to omit established stars in the name of balance.