Garth Crooks praises Cesar Azpilicueta only to take another swipe at Chelsea's Tiemoue Bakayoko

Garth Crooks has once again taken issue with Chelsea midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko and his hair after the Blues' 1-1 draw at Liverpool.

Bakayoko, who arrived from Monaco over the summer, has been a hot topic for Crooks in recent weeks, having been told to focus on training and not the colour of his hair.

The 23-year-old lined up in a midfield three as Antonio Conte’s side shared the spoils at Anfield thanks to Willian’s late goal. Crooks though, thought Cesar Azpilicueta was the pick of the bunch for the Blues.

“Azpilicueta's block on Daniel Sturridge was of the highest order but his interception to deny Mohamed Salah was just breathtaking,” he wrote in his BBC Sport team of the week.

“Last season I was making these remarks about David Luiz who, it seems, had returned to Stamford Bridge to prove a point. He certainly did that.

“This season, however, he appears to have fallen out with his manager and team-mates, and has to sit on the bench until he gets his attitude right.

“In the meantime, Azpilicueta is doing all the things Luiz was doing for Chelsea, and looking magnificent at the same time.”

While Crooks was impressed with the Spaniard’s performance, he thought his role in influencing Bakayoko was equally impressive.

Having taken aim at Bakayoko over what Crooks deemed as frivolous use of hair dye a few weeks ago, the BBC pundit was at it again, without even naming the Frenchman, who went without dye in the North West, in his side.

“I'm also delighted the Spain international took my advice some weeks ago and told Tiemoue Bakayoko to get rid of that ridiculous blue rinse in his hair, and get down to working hard in training to produce the form that got him a move to the Bridge in the first place.

“The Frenchman can play but must realise that distractions like fancy hairstyles don't help when you want to be taken seriously.

“Chelsea may be struggling to retain the Premier League title but there are still big trophies on offer and Azpilicueta will need all his team-mates - including Bakayoko - on point if they are to get their hands on any of them.”