In 1961 he moved to Italy to play for Serie A club Sampdoria for one season (1961/62), before accepting a stint as a player/coach at Swiss side Young Boys (1962–1964).
Former Argentine World Cup-winning coach César Luis Menotti took charge, but failed to match the results of Eriksson, and was replaced by the 1991 championship winning coach Vujadin Boškov, who guided the team to a safe mid-table slot.