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Having secured six victories from six matches, an unbreached defense and World Cup qualification confirmed with matches remaining, England manager Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has made the right selection choices.

Yet, in the build-up to Thursday's home game against Serbia, he raised questions when he said that three of the nation's top talents - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - are unable to feature in the identical lineup.

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

"It's possible but not in the structure, not for the balance that we developed and not in this formation that comes also with wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We presently employ with specific numbered positions."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but his team selections indicate that the Barcelona loanee and Bukayo Saka are his preferred options on the wide areas respectively.

The question remains whether Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

The previous England manager evidently thought it possible.

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

In the 16 fixtures the trio have played together, England have won 10, shared points three times and been defeated three times, scoring 36 times and letting in 14 strikes.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

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

The Aston Villa player has been the key creative force because of his excellent dribbling, shooting ability and ability to attack the box when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has mentioned preferring specialist wingers. Saka and Gordon play out wide weekly and can retain the ball skillfully, 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 join the forward movement.

Potential configurations for England's stars

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with other creative midfielders for the number 10 role, with Kane probably featuring up front.

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

There is one way all three could play in this system and Tuchel hinted at it this week.

"With his club, he plays almost like a central or attacking midfielder, 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 allowed him to take responsibility deeper and could categorize him as the advanced playmaker, next to a more defensive number six.

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

Regardless of if Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the international competition, what seems encouraging is his readiness to exclude star names in the interest of team harmony.