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With six wins from six matches, no goals conceded and World Cup qualification assured before the final rounds, national team coach Thomas Tuchel can argue he has made the right selection choices.

However, in the build-up to Thursday's home game against Serbia, he raised questions when he stated that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the identical lineup.

"At the moment, if we maintain the formation, they cannot play.

"They might but not in the structure, not for the balance that we established and not within the framework that also includes wingers who are like specialists 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 indicate that the Barcelona loanee and Bukayo Saka are his first choices on the wide areas respectively.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane coexist in the lineup?

Gareth Southgate evidently thought it possible.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane were selected for each England's seven matches at last summer's tournament in Germany, where the England team were defeated by Spain in the final.

In the 16 fixtures the stars have performed alongside each other, England have triumphed 10 times, shared points three times and lost three, scoring 36 times and conceding 14.

Analysis: Foden's versatility gives Tuchel options

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

The Aston Villa player has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his excellent dribbling, strike quality and capacity to penetrate the area when the number nine withdraws.

Tuchel has mentioned preferring natural flank operators. The wide attackers play out wide weekly and can retain the ball skillfully, take their full-back on, and enter the area to finish.

Behind this front four, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of one defensively strict player and another with greater freedom to contribute to the attack.

Potential configurations for England's stars

Foden and Bellingham would be vying against attacking alternatives for the number 10 role, with Kane expected to lead up front.

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

There is one way all three could feature together and Tuchel alluded to it this week.

"With his club, he plays almost like a box-to-box or creative role, so perhaps in coming months 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 make him an option as the central midfielder, next to a more defensive number six.

This would then permit Bellingham to feature as the attacking midfielder and Kane as the striker.

Regardless of if Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the global tournament, what bodes well is his willingness to leave big players out in the name of balance.