Sven and Freddie show their Swede sides

"I have a harder skin now," Eriksson smiled. "What you call a thick skin."

Manchester City manager Eriksson today returns to where it all began for him in England, West Ham's Upton Park, on January 13, Eriksson was visiting his first Premiership ground as national coach and Sunderland won in east London to go second in the table.

Can he really believe that it is so long ago? And can he really believe all that has happened to him in that time?

"It has been a beautiful six years," he added with another smile.

All of it? "Well, I think in this job you don't have all lucky days. You lose some football games, but that's part of the job isn't it?"

Eriksson may certainly need to have one of his "lucky days" as he endeavours to turn his eclectic group of footballers into something resembling a Premier League football team.

The City manager is likely to have players from eight countries in his team today and one wonders just how he is going to fit all of the interpreters in to the away dressing room.

"Well, first of all we're going to fix teachers to them so they will learn English and I think one or two have already started with that,' explained Eriksson, who has yet to sign a British player.

"Secondly we try to teach them "right", "left", "right", "hold it" and things like that, which is a common language.

"But it's not like in 90 minutes you have a long conversation with your team-mates. It's more like 'come on', 'look up'.

"I think the football language is universal. But long-term they have to learn English, not only for the football but also so they can feel at home in a new country."

Eriksson has successfully managed at club level away from his native Sweden - in Portugal and Italy - and is perhaps entitled to believe that he knows what he is doing. "As a manager, you're not getting worse with age. I think you get better because you have more and more experience of football."

Eriksson will today come face to face with another Swede trying to show a few people that he has lost none of his sparkle, West Ham midfielder Freddie Ljungberg.

Ljungberg went a little stale towards the end of his time at Arsenal, as Eriksson did with England. It is pertinent to suggest that both men need a good start with their new clubs.

West Ham boss Alan Curbishley said: 'I spoke to Freddie at great length because I didn't want him to think he was doing us a great favour. The minute he thinks that, West Ham fans will let him know. But if they think he's putting it all in, they'll lap it up and he won't have heard a noise like it.'

Much has been made in some quarters of Eriksson's relationship with other top-flight managers, especially those he clashed with during his time with England.

This week Eriksson was too busy trying to sign a goalkeeper to attend a meeting of Premier League managers in London, but said his confidant Tord Grip returned with good wishes from some of his rivals.

The Swede insists he will - unlike Arsenal's Arsene Wenger - honour the British tradition of sharing a drink with his rival after a game but has little concern for those who may try to portray him differently.

"Do people want me to fail? Well, I don't know," he said. "I have not thought about that. But of course if they aren't Manchester City fans, they don't want the other teams - including City - to do well."