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Having secured six victories out of six, an unbreached defense and tournament placement assured before the final rounds, England manager Thomas Tuchel can argue he has made the right selection choices.

Yet, in the build-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he stated that three of the nation's top talents - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - are unable to feature in the equivalent formation.

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

"They can but not with current tactics, not maintaining equilibrium that we established and not within the framework that comes also with wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We play at the moment with specific numbered positions."

From automatic picks to contested places

England's creative talents have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but his team selections imply that the Barcelona loanee and Bukayo Saka are his primary selections on the wide areas respectively.

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

Gareth Southgate apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane were selected for each England's seven fixtures at the European Championship in Germany, where the England team fell to the Spanish in the final.

In the 16 matches the trio have played simultaneously, England have won 10, drawn three and lost three, netting 36 goals and conceding 14.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

Tuchel has employed a four-two-three-one setup that transforms formation when England attack.

Morgan Rogers has been the main number 10 because of his impressive ball progression, shooting ability and ability to attack the box when the number nine withdraws.

Tuchel has discussed favoring natural flank operators. The wide attackers play out wide weekly and can retain the ball skillfully, engage in one-on-one situations, and arrive in the box to score.

Behind this front four, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of a holding midfielder and a partner with attacking liberty 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 main forward, which in theory could permit both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

There is an alternative approach all three could play in this system and Tuchel hinted at it this week.

"At Manchester City, he functions as a number eight or 10, so potentially in future we view him as a box-to-box player," he said.

Foden has been used in a more all-purpose midfield role this season.

That has enabled him to operate from deeper areas and could position him as the advanced playmaker, alongside a holding midfielder.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate 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 willingness to leave big players out in the name of balance.