🔗 Share this article England's star trio struggle to fit in the same lineup - does the manager have a point? Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden have been essential components for England over the recent half-decade Having secured six victories out of six, an unbreached defense and a World Cup spot assured before the final rounds, England manager Thomas Tuchel can argue he has got all of his big qualifying decisions correct. Nevertheless, in the build-up to Thursday's home game against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he claimed that three of the nation's top talents - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the equivalent formation. "Presently, if we maintain the formation, they are unable to feature. "They can but not in the structure, not for the balance that we developed and not in this formation that comes also with wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We currently utilize with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker." From guaranteed positions to competitive roles Foden and Bellingham have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but his team selections imply that Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka are his primary selections 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 fixtures at the European Championship in Germany, where the England team lost to Spain in the final. In the 16 matches the trio have played simultaneously, England have secured 10 victories, tied three matches and suffered three losses, netting 36 goals and letting in 14 strikes. Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions Tuchel has played a 4-2-3-1 system that alters structure when England attack. Morgan Rogers has been the key creative force because of his strong ball-carrying, shooting ability and capacity to penetrate the area when the striker drops deep. Tuchel has discussed favoring natural flank operators. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars consistently operate in wide areas and can maintain possession effectively, take their full-back on, and enter the area to finish. Behind this front four, Tuchel plays with a midfield two consisting of a disciplined defensive presence and another with greater freedom to support offensive play. 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 feature as the main forward, which potentially could enable both Bellingham and Foden to operate without the captain. There is a potential solution all three could feature together and Tuchel hinted at it this week. "For Man City, he plays almost like 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 allowed him to take responsibility deeper and could make him an option as the number eight, paired with a defensive anchor. This would then permit Bellingham to feature as the number 10 and Kane as the nine. Irrespective of whether Tuchel decides to set England up like this at the World Cup, what appears positive is his preparedness to omit established stars in the interest of team harmony.