‘Close to my family’ | England boss Tuchel: The new poster boy for work from home flexibility

In years gone by, the decision to allow the manager of England’s football team to skip match-attendance responsibilities and instead travel to his home country of Germany would have sent our nation’s tabloids into a state of delirium.

Those familiar with the UK’s sports media landscape of the 2000s and 2010s can easily imagine a score of jostling hacks, furiously pounding away at their keyboards had Sven-Göran Eriksson or Fabio Capello swapped a drizzly Sunday match-up between Aston Villa and Newcastle for the delights of Malmo or Milan, salivating at the prospect of dragging their names through the gutter press.

These days, thankfully, the reaction is a touch more muted, limited to a raised eyebrow here and a pro-turned-pundit rant there, in part thanks to the growing acceptance of the need for flexible working models that support work-life balance.

Yes, it’s official. The work-from-home conversation has now reached the dizzying heights of the English Football Association (FA), with the governing body allowing new boss Thomas Tuchel to skip some in-person match attendance responsibilities and instead visit his family in Germany.