England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson says he cannot understand why some fans considered him to be acting like a traitor when he discussed leaving the post to take over at Chelsea.

The Swede had talks with the London club's chief executive Peter Kenyon but, after the discussions were exposed in the media and the Football Association summoned him for urgent talks, he extended his England contract for two years until 2008.

Eriksson, who became England's first foreign manager when he took over from Kevin Keegan in January 2001, was widely criticised for his links with Chelsea after being photographed leaving a meeting at Kenyon's home.

"I am happy that these discussions are over but what was difficult for me to understand is that you are treated almost like a traitor if you listen to another job," he told BBC Radio 5-Live on Wednesday.

"It's difficult to understand that I should not be allowed to talk to another club. In a democratic world, that's what you should be allowed to do, but that has gone and I have to understand it.

"I have always said that I'm going to stay in the job and I'm still here.

"I am extremely proud to have it (the England job), and I suppose it is the biggest football job in the world.

"When you stand up from the bench and hear the national anthem and see all the flags, of course you freeze."

Although he has also been criticised for not showing emotion during matches, notably when England slipped out of the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals against Brazil, the 56-year-old former Lazio coach said he had no plans to change his approach.

"I will not be a Winston Churchill," he said. "I talk in the dressing room but if you expect me to be a Churchill, no I can't be that. Every manager has his own way...I don't think I should change, not at my age."