Former Stoke City player, Garth Crooks criticized Thomas Tuchel for his handling of the Romelu Lukaku situation earlier this season.
Crooks told BBC Sport: "I said Thomas Tuchel would need Romelu Lukaku and so it is proving,
"The overzealous nonsense by the Chelsea manager in sanctioning the Belgium striker after he fell for the flattery of an interviewer in Italy almost cost Tuchel and the club.
"Instead Lukaku apologised when other strikers of similar calibre might have put two fingers up to the manager and made for the exit.
"All credit to Lukaku, who has knuckled down and worked his way back to form with regular appearances, which is all the £97.5m player wanted in the first place.
"Lukaku led the line brilliantly against Palmeiras and was instrumental in Chelsea winning the Club World Cup for the first time in their history. Not a bad return.
"He took his responsibility to talk and put a bit more pressure on himself and delivered tonight, scoring an important goal.
"Every player always has something to prove and will always want to do better but he scored the goal to give us the lead and I’m happy with this performance."
