England's star trio can't play together - does the manager have a point?
With six wins out of six, an unbreached defense and World Cup qualification secured with two group games to spare, national team coach Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has made the right selection choices.
However, in the preparation for Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he claimed that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - struggle to perform in the equivalent formation.
"At the moment, if we keep the structure, they cannot play.
"They might but not with current tactics, not maintaining equilibrium that we developed and not within the framework that comes also with wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We currently utilize with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."
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 imply that the Barcelona loanee and Bukayo Saka 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 featured in every England's seven matches at Euro 2024 in Germany, where the national squad were defeated by Spain in the final.
In the 16 matches the three have featured together, England have won 10, shared points three times and lost three, scoring 36 times and letting in 14 strikes.
Analysis: Foden's versatility gives Tuchel options
Tuchel has played a 4-2-3-1 system that transforms formation when England attack.
Morgan Rogers has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his excellent dribbling, strike quality and skill in entering the penalty area when the forward retreats.
Tuchel has spoken about preferring specialist wingers. Saka and Gordon play out wide weekly and can hold the ball well, engage in one-on-one situations, and appear in scoring positions.
Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of a holding midfielder and a partner with attacking liberty to support offensive play.
What solutions exist for the trio?
Foden and Bellingham would be competing with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze for the attacking midfield position, with Kane likely to start up front.
Foden could play as the number nine, which in theory 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.
"For Man City, he operates similarly to a number eight or 10, so maybe during the next months we consider him as a box-to-box player," he said.
Foden has been used in a more all-purpose midfield role this season.
That has allowed him to take responsibility deeper and could make him an option as the advanced playmaker, alongside a holding midfielder.
This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the attacking midfielder and Kane as the nine.
Irrespective of whether Tuchel decides to set England up like this at the global tournament, what bodes well is his readiness to exclude star names in the name of balance.