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After achieving six consecutive triumphs in six games, an unbreached defense and tournament placement assured before the final rounds, England manager Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has made the right selection choices.

Nevertheless, in the lead-up to Thursday's domestic match against Serbia, he raised questions when he stated that three of the nation's top talents - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - are unable to feature in the same team.

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

"They might but not in the structure, not maintaining equilibrium that we established and not in this formation that also includes wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We currently utilize with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been used in wide positions for England in the past, but the manager's choices imply that the Barcelona loanee and Arsenal's winger are his preferred options on the left and right flank respectively.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane coexist in the lineup?

Former Three Lions boss evidently thought it possible.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane were selected for each England's seven matches at last summer's tournament in Germany, where Southgate's side fell to the Spanish in the final.

In the 16 games the stars have performed together, England have triumphed 10 times, shared points three times and suffered three losses, registering 36 scores and conceding 14.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

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

The Aston Villa player has been the key creative force because of his impressive ball progression, ball-striking and ability to attack the box when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has discussed favoring dedicated wide players. The wide attackers play out wide weekly and can retain the ball skillfully, challenge defenders, and arrive in the box to score.

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

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

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

Foden could operate as the central striker, which in theory could permit 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 functions as a number eight or 10, so potentially in future we regard him as a box-to-box player," he said.

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

That has permitted him to contribute from midfield and could categorize him as the number eight, next to a more defensive number six.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the creative force and Kane as the center forward.

Irrespective of whether 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.