Thierry Henry has admitted his regret at calling a player’s grandmother a ‘whore’ during Monaco’s 5-1 defeat by Strasbourg on Saturday.
The former Arsenal striker, who took his first managerial job with the Ligue 1 side in October, was caught berating Kenny Lala from the touchline as the defender took a throw-in near the dugouts just before half-time. Henry believed the Strasbourg star was already wasting time with his side 2-1 up, and shouted: ‘It’s the 43rd minute, your grandmother’s whore.’
The 41-year-old then told a nearby official: ‘He’s got to stop now, that’s enough.’
But after being caught on camera abusing Lala, Henry took a moment during his press conference on Sunday to apologise for his comments.
‘It’s an expression of the street, unfortunately,’ he said.
‘I regret my comments from the bench. It was a human reaction, I’m still human. I regret it.
‘Sometimes I do it in English. Maybe in English it wouldn’t have been as noticeable. No, I’m joking. I should not do it.’
Henry also took aim at the officials and VAR after his side’s latest defeat, which left them 19th in the table and three points away from safety.
Monaco had Naldo sent off in just the seventh minute against Strasbourg and were also denied a penalty when they were 2-1 down.
‘When I asked the fourth official why he wasn’t reviewing (the potential penalty), he told me the VAR was not working,’ Henry said.
‘I would like to know why the VAR was not working and I hope you are going to ask why.
‘We were 2-1 down at that moment and if we convert the penalty, it’s 2-2. It would have been a game changer.’