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Having secured six victories from six matches, no goals conceded and a World Cup spot secured with two group games to spare, England manager Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has got all of his big qualifying decisions correct.

However, in the build-up to Thursday's domestic match against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he claimed that three of the country's best players - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the same team.

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

"It's possible but not with current tactics, not preserving harmony that we created and not within the framework that also includes wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We currently utilize with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From certain starters to fighting for spots

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been used in wide positions for England in the past, but his team selections suggest that the Barcelona loanee and the Gunners' star are his first choices on the wide areas respectively.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

The previous England manager apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane started all of England's seven matches at Euro 2024 in Germany, where the national squad were defeated by Spain in the final.

In the 16 games the stars have performed alongside each other, England have secured 10 victories, shared points three times and been defeated three times, scoring 36 times and allowing 14 goals.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

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

Morgan Rogers has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his excellent dribbling, strike quality and capacity to penetrate the area when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring natural flank operators. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars play out wide weekly and can maintain possession effectively, challenge defenders, and appear in scoring positions.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of one defensively strict player and one with more license to join the forward movement.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with other creative midfielders for the attacking midfield position, with Kane likely to start up front.

Foden could operate as the main forward, which in theory could allow both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane.

There is an alternative approach all three could coexist effectively and Tuchel alluded to 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 categorize him as the central midfielder, alongside a holding midfielder.

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

No matter whether Tuchel decides to set England up like this at the global tournament, what seems encouraging is his preparedness to omit established stars in the interest of team harmony.