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Having secured six victories from six matches, no goals conceded and tournament placement secured with two group games to spare, England manager Thomas Tuchel might claim he has made the right selection choices.

Yet, in the preparation for Thursday's home game against Serbia, he raised questions when he claimed that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the equivalent formation.

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

"They can but not in the structure, not maintaining equilibrium that we established and not for the structure that incorporates wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We play at the moment with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

England's creative talents have been used in wide positions for England in the past, but the manager's choices imply that the Manchester United forward and Bukayo Saka are his preferred options on the wide areas respectively.

But can Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

Former Three Lions boss certainly thought so.

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

In the 16 games the trio have played simultaneously, England have won 10, shared points three times and lost three, netting 36 goals and conceding 14.

Analysis: Foden's versatility gives Tuchel options

Tuchel has employed a four-two-three-one setup that alters structure when England attack.

The Aston Villa player has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his excellent dribbling, shooting ability and skill in entering the penalty area when the number nine withdraws.

Tuchel has discussed favoring specialist wingers. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars regularly feature on the wings and can retain the ball skillfully, challenge defenders, and arrive in the box to score.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a disciplined defensive presence and another with greater freedom to join the forward movement.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be vying against other creative midfielders for the attacking midfield position, with Kane likely to start up front.

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

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

"With his club, he operates similarly to a box-to-box or creative role, so potentially in future we view him as a box-to-box player," he said.

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

That has permitted him to contribute from midfield and could position him as the central midfielder, paired with a defensive anchor.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the number 10 and Kane as the striker.

No matter whether Tuchel decides to set England up like this at the international competition, what seems encouraging is his preparedness to omit established stars in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.