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Having secured six victories in six games, an unbreached defense and World Cup qualification assured before the final rounds, England manager Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has got all of his big qualifying decisions correct.

Yet, in the build-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he initiated discussion when he claimed that three of the nation's top talents - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the equivalent formation.

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

"They might but not with current tactics, not for the balance that we created and not within the framework that comes also with wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We play at the moment with specific numbered positions."

From automatic picks to contested places

England's creative talents have been utilized out wide for England in the past, but his team selections indicate that Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka are his preferred options on the wide areas respectively.

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

The previous England manager certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven matches at the European Championship in Germany, where the England team lost to Spain in the final.

In the 16 games the stars have performed together, England have won 10, shared points three times and suffered three losses, netting 36 goals and letting in 14 strikes.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

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

The Aston Villa player has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his impressive ball progression, strike quality and skill in entering the penalty area when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has discussed favoring specialist wingers. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars play out wide weekly and can retain the ball skillfully, challenge defenders, and enter the area to finish.

Behind this front four, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a holding midfielder and one with more license to join the forward movement.

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 expected to lead up front.

Foden could play as the main forward, which theoretically could enable both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane.

There is an alternative approach all three could play in this system and Tuchel alluded to it this week.

"At Manchester City, he operates similarly to a number eight or 10, so potentially in future we consider him as a box-to-box player," he said.

Foden has been deployed in a versatile central position this season.

That has allowed him to take responsibility deeper and could position him as the advanced playmaker, next to a more defensive number six.

This would then allow Bellingham to play as the number 10 and Kane as the center forward.

No matter whether Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the World Cup, what seems encouraging is his readiness to exclude star names in the name of balance.