🔗 Share this article England's star trio struggle to operate simultaneously - does the manager have a point? Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden have been key players for England over the last five seasons After achieving six consecutive triumphs out of six, an unbreached defense and World Cup qualification secured with two group games to spare, England manager Thomas Tuchel might claim he has chosen wisely throughout qualification. Yet, 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 equivalent formation. "Presently, if we maintain the formation, they are unable to feature. "They might but not in the structure, not for the balance that we developed and not for the structure that incorporates wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We presently employ 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 Tuchel's selections indicate that Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka are his preferred options on the wide areas respectively. So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously? Former Three Lions boss evidently thought it possible. Bellingham, Foden and Kane started all of England's seven matches at last summer's tournament in Germany, where Southgate's side lost to Spain in the final. In the 16 fixtures the stars have performed simultaneously, England have triumphed 10 times, shared points three times and suffered three losses, scoring 36 times and allowing 14 goals. Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives Tuchel has employed a four-two-three-one setup that alters structure when England attack. Morgan Rogers has been the main number 10 because of his strong ball-carrying, strike quality and skill in entering the penalty area when the forward retreats. Tuchel has spoken about preferring specialist wingers. Saka and Gordon regularly feature on the wings and can maintain possession effectively, take their full-back on, and arrive in the box to score. Behind this front four, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of one defensively strict player and one with more license to join the forward movement. What solutions exist for the trio? Foden and Bellingham would be battling with attacking alternatives for the number 10 role, with Kane likely to start up front. Foden could operate as the number nine, which potentially could enable both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane. There is one way all three could feature together and Tuchel suggested it this week. "With his club, he functions as a central or attacking midfielder, so maybe during the next months 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 categorize him as the number eight, next to a more defensive number six. This would then permit Bellingham to feature as the creative force and Kane as the striker. Regardless of if Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the international competition, what seems encouraging is his preparedness to omit established stars in the name of balance.