Three Lions' top talents are unable to play together - does the manager have a point?

Having secured six victories from six matches, an unbreached defense and World Cup qualification secured with two group games to spare, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel might claim he has got all of his big qualifying decisions correct.

However, 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 same team.

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

"It's possible but not in the structure, not for the balance that we developed and not for the structure that also includes wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We currently utilize with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From automatic picks to contested places

The Manchester City and Real Madrid stars have been used in wide positions for England in the past, but his team selections suggest that the Barcelona loanee and Arsenal's winger are his first choices on the wide areas respectively.

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

The previous England manager apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven games at the European Championship in Germany, where Southgate's side were defeated by Spain in the final.

In the 16 games the trio have played alongside each other, England have secured 10 victories, drawn three and been defeated three times, netting 36 goals and letting in 14 strikes.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

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

The Aston Villa player has been the key creative force because of his excellent dribbling, strike quality and skill in entering the penalty area when the forward retreats.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring natural flank operators. The wide attackers regularly feature on the wings and can hold the ball well, take their full-back on, and enter the area to finish.

In midfield behind the attackers, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a holding midfielder and another with greater freedom to join the forward movement.

Potential configurations for England's stars

Foden and Bellingham would be vying against other creative midfielders for the number 10 role, with Kane probably featuring up front.

Foden could feature as the central striker, which in theory could permit both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane.

There is an alternative approach all three could feature together and Tuchel alluded to it this week.

"With his club, he operates similarly to a central or attacking midfielder, so potentially in future we view him as a central midfielder," 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 number eight, paired with a defensive anchor.

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

No matter whether Tuchel decides to set England up like this at the World Cup, what bodes well is his readiness to exclude star names in the interest of team harmony.