Kane, Bellingham and Foden struggle to play together - does the manager have a point?

With six wins in six games, no goals conceded and World Cup qualification confirmed with matches remaining, national team coach Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has chosen wisely throughout qualification.

However, in the build-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he said that three of the England's elite footballers - 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.

"They can but not within this system, not for the balance that we established and not for the structure that also includes wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We presently employ with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

England's creative talents have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but the manager's choices imply that the Manchester United forward and Bukayo Saka are his first choices on the wide areas respectively.

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

Gareth Southgate certainly thought so.

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

In the 16 matches the three have featured together, England have triumphed 10 times, tied three matches and been defeated three times, registering 36 scores and conceding 14.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

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

The young midfielder has been the main number 10 because of his strong ball-carrying, ball-striking and capacity to penetrate the area when the forward retreats.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring natural flank operators. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars play out wide weekly and can hold the ball well, take their full-back on, and enter the area to finish.

Behind this front four, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a holding midfielder and a partner with attacking liberty to contribute to the attack.

What solutions exist for the trio?

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze for the creative hub, with Kane likely to start up front.

Foden could feature as the main forward, which theoretically could enable both Bellingham and Foden to operate without the captain.

There is an alternative approach all three could coexist effectively and Tuchel alluded to it this week.

"For Man City, he operates similarly to a number eight or 10, so potentially in future we view 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 number eight, next to a more defensive number six.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the attacking midfielder and Kane as the nine.

No matter whether Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the global tournament, what seems encouraging is his readiness to exclude star names in the name of balance.