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With six wins from six matches, an unbreached defense and World Cup qualification secured with two group games to spare, England manager Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has got all of his big qualifying decisions correct.

Yet, in the preparation for Thursday's domestic match against Serbia, he raised questions when he said that three of the nation's top talents - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the identical lineup.

"Currently, if we maintain the formation, they cannot play.

"They can but not in the structure, not maintaining equilibrium that we established and not in this formation that comes also with wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We currently utilize with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From automatic picks to contested places

England's creative talents have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but the manager's choices imply that Marcus Rashford and Arsenal's winger are his first choices on the wing positions respectively.

But can Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously?

The previous England manager certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven fixtures at the European Championship in Germany, where Southgate's side were defeated by Spain in the final.

In the 16 games the three have featured together, England have triumphed 10 times, shared points three times and been defeated three times, scoring 36 times and conceding 14.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

Tuchel has utilized a 4-2-3-1 formation that alters structure 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 striker drops deep.

Tuchel has discussed favoring specialist wingers. The wide attackers consistently operate in wide areas and can hold the ball well, engage in one-on-one situations, and appear in scoring positions.

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

Potential configurations for England's stars

Foden and Bellingham would be vying against Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze for the attacking midfield position, with Kane likely to start up front.

Foden could operate as the number nine, which potentially could permit both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

There is one way all three could coexist effectively and Tuchel hinted at it this week.

"For Man City, he operates similarly to a central or attacking midfielder, so potentially in future we consider him as a box-to-box player," 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 permit Bellingham to feature as the number 10 and Kane as the center forward.

Irrespective of whether Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the global tournament, what bodes well is his readiness to exclude star names in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.