🔗 Share this article

With six wins out of six, zero goals allowed and a World Cup spot secured with two group games to spare, national team coach Thomas Tuchel might claim he has got all of his big qualifying decisions correct.

Yet, in the lead-up to Thursday's home game against Serbia, he sparked a debate 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 keep the structure, they are unable to feature.

"They can but not within this system, not for the balance that we established and not in this formation that also includes wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We currently utilize with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From certain starters to fighting for spots

England's creative talents have been deployed on the flanks 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?

The previous England manager certainly thought so.

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

In the 16 fixtures the three have featured simultaneously, England have triumphed 10 times, tied three matches and been defeated three times, scoring 36 times and conceding 14.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

Tuchel has employed a four-two-three-one setup that alters structure when England attack.

The Aston Villa player has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his excellent dribbling, ball-striking and ability to attack the box when the forward retreats.

Tuchel has mentioned preferring specialist wingers. Saka and Gordon play out wide weekly and can hold the ball well, challenge defenders, and arrive in the box to score.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a disciplined defensive presence and one with more license to support offensive play.

Potential configurations for England's stars

Foden and Bellingham would be vying against Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze for the number 10 role, with Kane probably featuring up front.

Foden could operate as the central striker, which theoretically could permit both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

There is an alternative approach all three could coexist effectively and Tuchel hinted at it this week.

"For Man City, he functions as a box-to-box or creative role, so perhaps in coming months we view him as a number eight," 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 permit Bellingham to feature as the attacking midfielder and Kane as the nine.

Irrespective of whether Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the World Cup, what bodes well is his willingness to leave big players out in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.