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Having secured six victories from six matches, no goals conceded and World Cup qualification secured with two group games to spare, national team coach Thomas Tuchel might claim he has got all of his big qualifying decisions correct.

Nevertheless, in the lead-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 - cannot play in the same team.

"Currently, if we keep the structure, they are unable to feature.

"They might but not in the structure, not for the balance that we created and not for the structure that also includes wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We currently utilize with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From certain starters to fighting for spots

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been utilized out wide for England in the past, but the manager's choices suggest that the Manchester United forward and Bukayo Saka are his primary selections on the wide areas respectively.

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

Gareth Southgate evidently thought it possible.

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 fixtures the stars have performed together, England have won 10, drawn three and suffered three losses, registering 36 scores and conceding 14.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

Tuchel has utilized a 4-2-3-1 formation that transforms formation when England attack.

The young midfielder has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his excellent dribbling, strike quality and skill in entering the penalty area when the number nine withdraws.

Tuchel has discussed favoring specialist wingers. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars consistently operate in wide areas and can maintain possession effectively, engage in one-on-one situations, and enter the area to finish.

Behind this front four, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of one defensively strict player and one with more license to support offensive play.

What solutions exist for the trio?

Foden and Bellingham would be vying against attacking alternatives for the attacking midfield position, with Kane probably featuring up front.

Foden could operate as the central striker, which in theory could allow both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

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

"With his club, he functions as a number eight or 10, so potentially in future we regard 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 make him an option as the central midfielder, alongside a holding midfielder.

This would then permit Bellingham to feature as the number 10 and Kane as the striker.

Irrespective of whether Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the World Cup, what bodes well is his readiness to exclude star names in the interest of team harmony.