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Having secured six victories out of six, no goals conceded and tournament placement assured before the final rounds, England manager Thomas Tuchel can argue he has got all of his big qualifying decisions correct.

Nevertheless, in the build-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he raised questions when he said that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the equivalent formation.

"Currently, if we keep the structure, they cannot play.

"They can but not in the structure, not for the balance that we developed and not in this formation that also includes wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We play at the moment with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

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 Tuchel's selections imply that the Manchester United forward and Arsenal's winger are his preferred options on the wing positions respectively.

The question remains whether Bellingham, Foden and Kane coexist in the lineup?

Gareth Southgate certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane started all of England's seven games at the European Championship in Germany, where the national squad fell to the Spanish in the final.

In the 16 games the stars have performed alongside each other, England have secured 10 victories, tied three matches and suffered three losses, registering 36 scores and letting in 14 strikes.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

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

The young midfielder has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his strong ball-carrying, strike quality and skill in entering the penalty area when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring natural flank operators. The wide attackers regularly feature on the wings and can maintain possession effectively, take their full-back on, and arrive in the box to score.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of a holding midfielder and another with greater freedom to contribute to the attack.

What solutions exist for the trio?

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with attacking alternatives for the number 10 role, with Kane likely to start up front.

Foden could operate as the number nine, which theoretically could allow both Bellingham and Foden to operate without the captain.

There is a potential solution all three could coexist effectively and Tuchel alluded to it this week.

"At Manchester City, he functions as a number eight or 10, so maybe during the next months we regard him as a number eight," he said.

Foden has been utilized as a flexible midfielder this season.

That has allowed him to take responsibility deeper and could categorize him as the central midfielder, alongside a holding midfielder.

This would then permit Bellingham to feature as the creative force and Kane as the nine.

No matter whether Tuchel decides to set England up like this at the international competition, what seems encouraging is his willingness to leave big players out in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.