Ex-Tottenham and England striker Peter Crouch has compared Thomas Tuchel to Jose Mourinho after a decision that he says will have Callum Hudson-Odoi's camp branding him 'disrespectful' and a 'disgrace'.
The German boss substituted on the Chelsea youngster at half-time against Southampton on Saturday afternoon with his side one goal down at St Mary's Stadium.
But despite pulling level through a Mason Mount penalty, Tuchel was so unimpressed with Hudson-Odoi's performance that he substituted him back off again, a decision Crouch says it he 'ultimate humiliation' for a player.
Speaking after the game, Tuchel refused to hold back in his criticism of Hudson-Odoi, saying: "I wasn't happy with his energy, attitude with the counter-pressing."
And that brutal honest has led Crouch to draw comparisons to Mourinho, a former Chelsea boss hell-bent on saying what he thought.
"I’ve seen it happen a few times," Crouch said when quizzed on MailOnline about Tuchels brave decision.
"The one I remember most vividly was when I was playing for Stoke. We’d just been relegated and were playing Bristol City away on a Saturday afternoon. Charlie Adam came on in the 42nd minute but was taken off in the 70th minute.
"Charlie was fuming about it all and I won’t say that we helped his mood. As he had come on and then went off again, we started to call him ‘light switch’. That poor lad has had to cope with some big nicknames but that might have been the hardest to accept!
"Listen, it’s awful for the player involved. Fortunately, I never experienced it but I can imagine, from what I know of the game, that Hudson-Odoi will have people in his camp telling him that Tuchel was a disgrace and disrespectful.
"It is the ultimate humiliation for a player, it’s very degrading," he said.
"I can look at it another way, however, and it is striking that Tuchel has shown he is not to be messed around with; he is not afraid to make big decisions."
He added: "Jose Mourinho used to do it and Tuchel wants to show who is boss.
