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After achieving six consecutive triumphs in six games, an unbreached defense and tournament placement assured before the final rounds, national team coach Thomas Tuchel might claim he has chosen wisely throughout qualification.

Yet, in the lead-up to Thursday's domestic match against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he said that three of the nation's top talents - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the equivalent formation.

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

"They might but not within this system, not preserving harmony that we created and not in this formation that comes also with wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We play at the moment with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

Foden and Bellingham have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but his team selections indicate that the Barcelona loanee and Bukayo Saka are his first choices on the wing positions respectively.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

The previous England manager apparently believed they could.

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

In the 16 fixtures the stars have performed alongside each other, England have won 10, shared points three times and suffered three losses, registering 36 scores and allowing 14 goals.

Analysis: Foden's versatility gives Tuchel options

Tuchel has played a 4-2-3-1 system that alters structure when England attack.

Morgan Rogers 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 discussed favoring dedicated wide players. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars play out wide weekly and can retain the ball skillfully, take their full-back on, and arrive in the box to score.

In midfield behind the attackers, Tuchel plays with a midfield two consisting of one defensively strict player and another with greater freedom to support offensive play.

Potential configurations for England's stars

Foden and Bellingham would be battling with other creative midfielders for the creative hub, with Kane probably featuring up front.

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

There is a potential solution all three could play in this system and Tuchel hinted at it this week.

"With his club, he operates similarly to a box-to-box or creative role, so maybe during the next months we consider him as a number eight," he said.

Foden has been utilized as a flexible midfielder this season.

That has enabled him to operate from deeper areas and could position him as the number eight, alongside a holding midfielder.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the attacking midfielder and Kane as the nine.

Irrespective of whether Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the international competition, what bodes well is his readiness to exclude star names in the name of balance.