'Kane, Bellingham and Foden can't play together' - is Tuchel right?

Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden have been key players for England over the past five years

With six wins out of six, no goals conceded and a World Cup spot secured with two group games to spare, England manager Thomas Tuchel can argue he has got all of his big qualifying decisions correct.

However, in the build-up to Thursday's home game against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he said that three of the country's best players - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the same team.

He told Talksport: "At the moment, if we keep the structure, they cannot play.

"They can but not in the structure, not for the balance that we developed and not for the structure that comes also with wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We play at the moment with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

With Arsenal's Declan Rice and Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson shining in midfield in the number six and eight positions respectively and captain Kane a certain starter as centre-forward at nine, the debate centres around who will play in the attacking midfield role of number 10.

Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers has played all eight England matches under Tuchel and impressed as a number 10 when Real Madrid's Bellingham was unavailable because of shoulder surgery, while Chelsea's Cole Palmer, Everton's Jack Grealish and Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White will also want the role.

But Tuchel has warned that not all of them will be in the squad for next summer's World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico.

"I see a very, very low percentage that we take five number 10s into a tournament. I don't see how this will help us," he said.

"We will always do what's best for balance and we will try to keep the clarity, even if that means we have to take tough decisions."

From certain starters to fighting for spots

Foden and Bellingham have been used in wide positions for England in the past, but Tuchel's selections suggest Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, who is on loan at Barcelona, and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka are his first choices on the left and right flank respectively, with Newcastle's Anthony Gordon, Arsenal's Eberechi Eze and West Ham's Jarrod Bowen next in line.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

Gareth Southgate certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane started all of England's seven games at Euro 2024 in Germany, where Southgate's side lost to Spain in the final.

In the 16 games the trio have played alongside each other, England have won 10, drawn three and lost three, scoring 36 times and conceding 14. Of those 36 goals, Kane scored 14, Bellingham three and Foden two.

However, since Tuchel came in, the only time all three have played together was in the opening 74 minutes of his first game. Foden was substituted at 1-0 in a 2-0 win over Albania.

Tuchel is not the first England manager to have to juggle his side around to fit the best players in, with Sven-Goran Eriksson constantly trying to find the right balance in midfield.

Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes won the Champions League during their careers in central midfield for Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United respectively from the late 1990s to early 2010s.

They are regarded as three of England's best midfielders, with Gerrard winning 114 caps, Lampard 106 and Scholes 66. However, they played in the same England side only eight times, with Scholes often moved to the left to accommodate Gerrard and Lampard in the middle.

Analysis: Foden's versatility gives Tuchel options

Tuchel has played a 4-2-3-1 system that changes shape when England attack.

Rogers has been the main number 10 because of his strong ball-carrying, ball-striking and ability to attack the box when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring specialist wingers. Saka and Gordon play out wide weekly and can hold the ball well, take their full-back on, and arrive in the box to score.

Behind this front four, Tuchel plays with a midfield two consisting of one defensively strict player and one with more license to contribute to the attack.

Tuchel likely sees Bellingham as a number 10, aiming to utilise him in the same way he has used Rogers, hoping to get good ball progression, hold-up play and goals.

On Foden's positional versatility, Tuchel said that because he can play as a nine or 10, "it gives him an advantage to compete for both positions".

Interestingly, this would put him in contention with both Bellingham and Kane.

Foden won the Premier League playing as a false nine in 2020-21 and registered 27 goals and 12 assists in a very attacking role in 2023-24.

Given Kane's roaming interpretation of the striker role, using Foden in this way is less outlandish than it may first sound.

A heatmap of Phil Foden's touches for Manchester City in the Premier League this season

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with Palmer, Rogers and Eze for the number 10 role, with Kane likely to start up front.

Foden could play as the number nine, which in theory could allow both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

There is one way all three could play in this system and Tuchel hinted at it this week.

"For Man City, he plays almost like a number eight or 10, so maybe during the next months we consider him as a number eight," 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 number eight, next to a more defensive number six.

This would then allow Bellingham to play 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 bodes well is his willingness to leave big players out in the name of balance.