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Having secured six victories out of six, no goals conceded and tournament placement confirmed with matches remaining, England manager Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has chosen wisely throughout qualification.

Yet, in the lead-up to Thursday's domestic match against Serbia, he initiated discussion when he stated that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the same team.

"At the moment, if we maintain the formation, they won't fit together.

"They can but not in the structure, not preserving harmony that we developed and not in this formation that also includes wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We currently utilize with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

England's creative talents have been utilized out wide for England in the past, but the manager's choices imply that the Barcelona loanee and Bukayo Saka are his primary selections on the left and right flank respectively.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

Former Three Lions boss certainly thought so.

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

In the 16 matches the three have featured alongside each other, England have triumphed 10 times, shared points three times and been defeated three times, registering 36 scores and letting in 14 strikes.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

Tuchel has employed a four-two-three-one setup that alters structure when England attack.

The Aston Villa player has been the main number 10 because of his excellent dribbling, strike quality and skill in entering the penalty area when the forward retreats.

Tuchel has mentioned preferring specialist wingers. Saka and Gordon regularly feature on the wings and can maintain possession effectively, engage in one-on-one situations, and appear in scoring positions.

Behind this front four, 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 competing with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze for the attacking midfield position, with Kane probably featuring up front.

Foden could operate as the main forward, which theoretically could enable 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.

"For Man City, he plays almost like a box-to-box or creative role, 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 categorize him as the number eight, alongside a holding midfielder.

This would then allow Bellingham to play as the creative force and Kane as the center forward.

Regardless of if Tuchel decides to set England up like this at the international competition, what appears positive is his willingness to leave big players out in the interest of team harmony.