🔗 Share this article

With six wins out of six, an unbreached defense and tournament placement secured with two group games to spare, national team coach Thomas Tuchel can argue he has made the right selection choices.

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

"Presently, if we maintain the formation, they won't fit together.

"It's possible but not in the structure, not preserving harmony that we developed and not for the structure that also includes wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We currently utilize with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

Foden and Bellingham have been utilized out wide for England in the past, but Tuchel's selections indicate that the Barcelona loanee and Arsenal's winger are his primary selections on the left and right flank respectively.

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

Gareth Southgate certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven fixtures at last summer's tournament in Germany, where the national squad lost to Spain in the final.

In the 16 matches the three have featured simultaneously, England have triumphed 10 times, drawn three and been defeated three times, registering 36 scores and conceding 14.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

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

Morgan Rogers has been the key creative force because of his strong ball-carrying, shooting ability and skill in entering the penalty area when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has discussed favoring natural flank operators. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars play out wide weekly and can retain the ball skillfully, engage in one-on-one situations, and arrive in the box to score.

Behind this front four, Tuchel plays with a midfield two consisting of a holding midfielder and a partner with attacking liberty to contribute to the attack.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with attacking alternatives for the attacking midfield position, with Kane expected to lead up front.

Foden could play as the main forward, which potentially could permit both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane.

There is a potential solution all three could feature together and Tuchel suggested it this week.

"With his club, he plays almost like a number eight or 10, so potentially in future we view him as a number eight," he said.

Foden has been deployed in a versatile central position 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 allow Bellingham to play as the creative force and Kane as the center forward.

Regardless of if Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the global tournament, what appears positive is his readiness to exclude star names in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.