🔗 Share this article

After achieving six consecutive triumphs out of six, no goals conceded and tournament placement confirmed with matches remaining, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel might claim he has chosen wisely throughout qualification.

Yet, in the preparation for Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he stated that three of the country's best players - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the equivalent formation.

"Presently, if we maintain the formation, they are unable to feature.

"They can but not with current tactics, not preserving harmony that we established 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 guaranteed positions to competitive roles

England's creative talents have been utilized out wide for England in the past, but the manager's choices suggest that Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka are his preferred options on the wing positions respectively.

The question remains whether Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously?

Former Three Lions boss apparently believed they could.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven fixtures at Euro 2024 in Germany, where Southgate's side fell to the Spanish in the final.

In the 16 games the stars have performed simultaneously, England have secured 10 victories, shared points three times and lost three, netting 36 goals and conceding 14.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

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

Morgan Rogers has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his excellent dribbling, strike quality and capacity to penetrate the area when the number nine withdraws.

Tuchel has discussed favoring specialist wingers. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars play out wide weekly and can hold the ball well, challenge defenders, and enter the area to finish.

Behind this front four, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of one defensively strict player and one with more license to support offensive play.

Potential configurations for England's stars

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with other creative midfielders for the attacking midfield position, with Kane likely to start up front.

Foden could feature as the main forward, which theoretically could allow both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

There is an alternative approach all three could play in this system and Tuchel hinted at it this week.

"For Man City, he plays almost like a central or attacking midfielder, so perhaps in coming months we regard him as a central midfielder," he said.

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

That has enabled him to operate from deeper areas and could categorize him as the central midfielder, paired with a defensive anchor.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the number 10 and Kane as the nine.

Irrespective of whether Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the global tournament, what appears positive is his readiness to exclude star names in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.