Three Lions' top talents struggle to fit in the same lineup - does the manager have a point?

Having secured six victories in six games, an unbreached defense and tournament placement assured before the final rounds, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has made the right selection choices.

Nevertheless, in the lead-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he raised questions when he claimed that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - are unable to feature in the same team.

"Currently, if we keep the structure, they cannot play.

"They might but not with current tactics, not preserving harmony that we developed and not within the framework that incorporates wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We play at the moment with specific numbered positions."

From certain starters to fighting for spots

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 primary selections on the wide areas respectively.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

Gareth Southgate apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven fixtures at last summer's tournament in Germany, where Southgate's side fell to the Spanish in the final.

In the 16 matches the three have featured alongside each other, England have secured 10 victories, tied three matches and suffered three losses, netting 36 goals and allowing 14 goals.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

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

Morgan Rogers has been the main number 10 because of his impressive ball progression, strike quality and capacity to penetrate the area when the number nine withdraws.

Tuchel has discussed favoring dedicated wide players. The wide attackers regularly feature on the wings and can retain the ball skillfully, engage in one-on-one situations, and appear in scoring positions.

Behind this front four, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a holding midfielder 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 attacking alternatives for the number 10 role, with Kane expected to lead up front.

Foden could operate as the number nine, which in theory could permit both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

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

"For Man City, he functions as a central or attacking midfielder, so potentially in future we regard him as a number eight," he said.

Foden has been used in a more all-purpose midfield role this season.

That has allowed him to take responsibility deeper and could categorize him 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 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 name of balance.