🔗 Share this article

After achieving six consecutive triumphs out of six, zero goals allowed and tournament placement confirmed with matches remaining, 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 initiated discussion when he said that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the same team.

"Currently, if we stick with the system, they won't fit together.

"They might but not in the structure, not for the balance that we developed and not in this formation that also includes wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We play at the moment with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From automatic picks to contested places

England's creative talents have been used in wide positions for England in the past, but the manager's choices suggest that the Manchester United forward and Arsenal's winger are his primary selections on the wing positions respectively.

The question remains whether Bellingham, Foden and Kane coexist in the lineup?

Former Three Lions boss apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane were selected for each England's seven games at the European Championship in Germany, where the England team fell to the Spanish in the final.

In the 16 games the trio have played simultaneously, England have triumphed 10 times, drawn three and been defeated three times, scoring 36 times and conceding 14.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

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

The young midfielder has been the main number 10 because of his excellent dribbling, strike quality and skill in entering the penalty 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, take their full-back on, and enter the area to finish.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders 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 battling with attacking alternatives for the number 10 role, with Kane expected to lead up front.

Foden could feature as the central striker, which in theory could allow both Bellingham and Foden to operate without the captain.

There is a potential solution all three could coexist effectively and Tuchel suggested it this week.

"For Man City, he functions as a number eight or 10, so potentially in future we consider him as a box-to-box player," he said.

Foden has been utilized as a flexible midfielder this season.

That has enabled him to operate from deeper areas and could make him an option as the advanced playmaker, paired with a defensive anchor.

This would then permit Bellingham to feature as the number 10 and Kane as the center forward.

Regardless of if Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the World Cup, what bodes well is his willingness to leave big players out in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.