Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham face England snub as World Cup plan becomes clearer

Thomas Tuchel has issued a stark warning to his star players - they cannot all feature in the same starting XI. The England boss has made it abundantly clear there is insufficient room to accommodate Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden simultaneously in his line-up. Tuchel says his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation cannot fit all three stars, leaving them uncertain about their places for Thursday evening's encounter with Serbia and next year's World Cup.

Tuchel said: "At the moment, if we keep the structure, they cannot play. We don't like it, not because they don't individually deserve it, but we will always do what's best for the team, we will always do what's best for winning. We will always do what's best for balance and we will try to keep the clarity, even if means that we have to take tough decisions. We take tough decisions in any camp, and this will not change when we go to a tournament."

The England manager views Kane as a traditional centre forward, whilst both Foden and Bellingham are regarded as natural No.10s operating in the playmaker position behind the striker. Foden is also now considered capable of operating as a false nine in place of Kane, but the days of the Manchester City star being deployed out wide have come and gone.

Previous manager Gareth Southgate attempted to squeeze as many of them into his team as possible, whilst former interim boss Lee Carsley's attempt to select them all ended disastrously when England suffered defeat at home to Greece. Tuchel has made it clear that while players could feature in different formations, they certainly won't fit into his current tactical plan.

He emphasised that attempts to keep everyone content often fail and recent experiences have highlighted the importance of maintaining harmony within the squad. Tuchel stated: "I don't want to give too much away but there is a very high probability that we stick with our structure - we have six, an eight, a nine and a number ten and we have two wingers.

"I have proof now from two camps of what is good stability and balance within the squad. This is what it is at the moment. In the number 10 position, if you think about Phil who could play there, if you think about Jude, you think about Morgan Rogers, who played fantastic for us in this position.

"You have Cole Palmer, you have Morgan Gibbs-White, so there's a lot, a lot of players, and there's the chance that we will not take everyone.

"I think Phil can play the nine, he can play the 10. It gives him, first of all, an advantage to compete for both positions. For Man City, he plays almost like an eight, 10, so maybe during the next months we consider him as an eight.

"But, like again, I see a very, very low percentage that we take five number 10s in the number 10 position into a tournament. I don't see how this will help us."