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With six wins from six matches, an unbreached defense and a World Cup spot secured with two group games to spare, national team coach Thomas Tuchel can argue he has made the right selection choices.

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

"Currently, if we maintain the formation, they are unable to feature.

"They can but not in the structure, not maintaining equilibrium that we developed and not for the structure that incorporates wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We currently utilize with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

Foden and Bellingham have been used in wide positions for England in the past, but Tuchel's selections imply that the Barcelona loanee and Arsenal's winger are his primary selections on the wide areas respectively.

The question remains whether Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously?

Gareth Southgate apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane started all of England's seven matches at Euro 2024 in Germany, where the England team were defeated by Spain in the final.

In the 16 games the three have featured alongside each other, England have won 10, drawn three and lost three, scoring 36 times and conceding 14.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

Tuchel has employed a four-two-three-one setup that changes shape when England attack.

The Aston Villa player has been the main number 10 because of his excellent dribbling, shooting ability and ability to attack the box when the forward retreats.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring specialist wingers. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars consistently operate in wide areas and can retain the ball skillfully, challenge defenders, and arrive in the box to score.

In midfield behind the attackers, Tuchel plays with a midfield two consisting of a holding midfielder and another with greater freedom to contribute to the attack.

Potential configurations for England's stars

Foden and Bellingham would be battling with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze for the number 10 role, with Kane expected to lead up front.

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

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

"With his club, he functions as a central or attacking midfielder, so potentially in future we consider 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 position him as the central midfielder, next to a more defensive number six.

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

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.