Thierry Henry’s heated debate with Mike Grella

Thierry Henry and former US star Mike Grella refused to pull any punches as they got into a heated debate live on-air on Tuesday night.

The pair were covering AC Milan’s home clash with Liverpool for CBS Sports, with Henry in the studio while Grella reported from pitchside at San Siro.

The conversation turned to the current standard of Major League Soccer (MLS) following the recent appointment of new national team manager Mauricio Pochettino, and Henry went straight for the jugular.

‘I played in the MLS, I thought the American-based players in the MLS were better than the American players now in the MLS,’ Henry said, before adding: ‘Answer that one’ to Grella.

Micah Richards could sense the tension building between the pair and tried to cool things down, but Henry persisted as he repeated that he had a strong view on the subject due to his past experience in the league as a player with New York Red Bulls.

Grella snapped back by claiming he replaced Henry in the MLS when they were players

Grella finally responded in brutal fashion as he told Henry with a big grin on his face: ‘I know you played in MLS, I replaced you!’ 

At this point, Jamie Carragher and Richards got up out of their seats and pretended to walk off-set, while host Kate Abdo covered her face as things got increasingly awkward.

Henry was having none of it as he snapped back: ‘Don’t go there! You didn’t replace me. You won’t win that argument’.

Carragher found his voice again as he joked: ‘Mike, I think that’s the end of your CBS career!’

Grella took the joke well as he quickly replied: ‘I don’t know if it was going anywhere anyway, Jamie!’

Carragher and Richards hilariously crept back to their seats in another bid to ease the tension, but Henry was determined to get a final answer out of Grella.

Grella admitted the best US players are currently playing in Europe, but that still wasn’t good enough for Henry as he accused the American of ‘ducking the question’.

For the final time, he asked whether the American players from his era were better than the current crop, with Grella reluctantly conceding ‘probably, the answer is probably’.

Finally, Henry got the answer he wanted, and Abdo could be heard breathing a sigh of relief in the background as the awkward exchange came to an end.