Manager

I'd won three cups with Lazio - then, against the odds, we won Serie A, the Italian equivalent of the Premier League. Rome went wild. Thousands of people filled the streets, and fans even jumped on my car. I became known as Il Mitico - 'the legend.'

It is more difficult for any coach to work in the Premier League than any other league. You can lose or win against any team.

If my style is typically Swedish, I don't know. But I never shouted in all my life at players and I never did it at my children.

I think, that it's sort of a dream, for many coaches to have a long contract with African countries. The problem in Africa, they do the qualifiers with some coaches, and when the World Cup comes, they change to have bigger names. And then, they recruit a coach for two, three months and when the World Cup finish, they send him back.

If Rooney had been Italian, he would have been loved like Francesco Totti was at Roma.

My private life, I prefer to have that private.

The big question for me is - are the players happy? Because in my mind it is all about building the right relationship with your players and creating the right atmosphere.

My role as Manchester City manager was different to being manager of clubs in other countries. You share responsibility more in other European countries. You have the last word, though, in who to buy and who plays and things like that.

There is so many good people in Africa. And a huge talent among the football players.

Ranieri won the Premier League and no one would've expected that.

I must say, the standard of football we play in League Two is better than I thought. I think, if you compared it with the fourth division in other countries, such as Italy, Germany and Spain, League Two is much, much better - and that's very positive. The intensity and the tempo is as high as the Premier League.

The treatment of Wayne Rooney told me something about the way England fans view the national team.

You don't give Capello advice. Capello's a better talker than listener.

The World Cup is the biggest party in football and it's a party for the world, it's incredible. It goes for a month and there is a huge amount of interest. It's the greatest thing you can do and it's beautiful.

Football is important, football is my life, I love it but life is more important than football.

Shanghai is a beautiful city, with theatres, shopping malls and restaurants that can rival anything in London.

I always thought I did a good job with England. But people at the time didn't think so. They had had enough of the Swedish guy only making the quarter-finals.

I have a big TV screen and I sit there and watch the Premier League and I get angry sometimes - 'I'm better than that guy sitting there.' Of course, I am joking. But I analyse. I look at it technically, how they play, how they defend, how they attack, why did he change that player? That's the only way I can look at it after all these years.

I liked friendly games, but I took them like a test to test new players. People didn't like that very much.

Sir Alex Ferguson was a genuinely nice man. We met many times and even had dinner together on a few occasions. But woe to the person who threatened or bothered Manchester United in any way. Then Ferguson would not spare his venom. I know, because he often aimed that venom at me.