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Having secured six victories out of six, an unbreached defense and World Cup qualification secured with two group games to spare, England manager Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has chosen wisely throughout qualification.

Yet, in the lead-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he said that three of the nation's top talents - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the equivalent formation.

"At the moment, if we stick with the system, they cannot play.

"It's possible but not with current tactics, not maintaining equilibrium that we established and not in this formation that also includes wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We play at the moment with specific numbered positions."

From automatic picks to contested places

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been utilized out wide for England in the past, but the manager's choices indicate that the Manchester United forward and Bukayo Saka 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 apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane started all of England's seven fixtures 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, tied three matches and suffered three losses, netting 36 goals and allowing 14 goals.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

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

Morgan Rogers has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his strong ball-carrying, strike quality and skill in entering the penalty area when the number nine withdraws.

Tuchel has discussed favoring dedicated wide players. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars consistently operate in wide areas and can maintain possession effectively, engage in one-on-one situations, and arrive in the box to score.

Behind this front four, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of one defensively strict player and one with more license 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 probably featuring up front.

Foden could play as the number nine, which potentially could allow both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

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

"With his club, he operates similarly to a box-to-box or creative role, so potentially in future we regard him as a number eight," he said.

Foden has been deployed in a versatile central position this season.

That has allowed him to take responsibility deeper and could categorize him as the central midfielder, next to a more defensive number six.

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

Regardless of if Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the international competition, what seems encouraging is his willingness to leave big players out in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.