After just two match days, Premier League referees have awarded seven penalties this campaign, while at the same stage last season, only three were penalties were given.
"If you're going to give penalties away like that there are going to be a lot of penalties and people will be asking for consistency," Crouch told British media.
"I haven't seen (replays of the incidents) ... but if they're penalties then you're going to be giving two or three a game and it's going to be a farce."
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The 35-year-old, an unused substitute in Saturday's match, said he viewed holding as an integral part of the game and forecast "a long season for defenders".
"(But) it's just something we're going to have to learn to adapt to," he added.
Stoke City next face Stevenage in the League Cup on Tuesday, before a trip to Goodison Park to play Everton in the league on Saturday.
(Reporting by Nivedita Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Alison Williams)
