England manager Thomas Tuchel has ruled out playing Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden in the same team under his current system.
Tuchel has brought Bellingham and Foden back into his squad for the upcoming matches against Serbia and Albania. He previously confirmed that Bellingham and Morgan Rogers are in direct competition for the No 10 spot and last week described Foden as a “nine and a half”, with captain Kane as his No 9.
“At the moment, if we keep the structure, they can’t play,” Tuchel told TalkSport on Wednesday.
“They can, but not in the structure. Not because of the balance that we develop, nor because of the structure that also comes with wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We play at this moment with a six, an eight, a 10 and a nine.”
Tuchel has ruled out playing Foden on the wings, as Gareth Southgate tried during Euro 2024 when Bellingham started behind Kane and with Foden on the left.
“Instead of finding a position for the best players to be on the pitch, maybe it’s better to put everyone in their best position and have a competition,” Tuchel said while explaining why he wouldn’t play Bellingham and Rogers on the same team.
“At the moment the competition is between the two of them. They are friends, so it is a friendly competition. They don’t have to be enemies or hate each other. They are respectful and fight for the same position.
“Can they play together? Yes, but in a different structure and now is not the time to change the structure.”