Phil Taylor Compares Michael van Gerwen To Manchester United Insisting That His ‘Fear Factor’ Has Gone

Darts legend Phil Taylor has compared Michael van Gerwen to Manchester United, warning him that his fear factor has gone, just like teams have no fear going to Old Trafford nowadays.

Phil Taylor Compares Michael van Gerwen To Manchester United

It’s fair to say that Phil Taylor knows a thing or two when it comes to darts. The 16-time World Darts Championship winner is undoubtedly the best player to ever play darts, having won all there is to win on multiple occasions throughout his career.

Some darts fans began to questions whether a certain Michael van Gerwen could follow in Taylor’s footsteps and perhaps even break his incredible records, making him the best player of all time.

However, that seems unlikely now with ‘MVG’ going through somewhat of a struggle period. There could be many reasons for this, but Phil Taylor believes one reason van Gerwen is struggling is because his fear factor has completely gone now.

The green machine has suffered a mini-dip in form, which could be down to many factors. The dominance of Luke Humphries could be one factor, with just far more world class players now involved in professional darts.

“I know exactly why he’s finding it harder to win tournaments now: When you are younger, you don’t fear anybody – you went up there, you never thought about it, you were free as a bird and you just did it.

“I used to stand behind Michael when I was playing against him and think, ‘How have you just done that?’ He was brilliant, out of this world.

“But now he’s getting older and he’s thinking about it – whether it’s changing his darts, tinkering with his throwing action or whatever and some of the players have told me, ‘We don’t fear him any more, Luke Littler are above him in the rankings now, they are calling the shots,” said the 16-time world champion.

Taylor: ‘The Fear Factor Has Gone’

Phil Taylor certainly knows what he’s talking about, and can see that Michael van Gerwen perhaps isn’t the force today that he once was. That being said, ‘The Power’ does believe ‘MVG’ can rediscover his previous dominance if he can get people to fear playing him again.

‘The Power’ believes that van Gerwen’s dip in form could be down to the fact that other players no longer fear playing him:

“It’s a bit like playing Manchester United at Old Trafford – opposition teams used to line up in the tunnel and know they were getting beat before a ball was kicked, but now the fear factor has gone.

“Don’t get me wrong, Michael is still a fantastic player, one of the best, but players have worked out how to beat him and he’s not having things all his own way.

“I know how it works – I had people trying to knock me off my perch for almost 30 years, and nothing lasts forever,” Taylor concluded.

It is evident that Phil Taylor still rates Michael van Gerwen as one of the best darts players in the world. That being said, he is aware that he has a bit of work to do if he wants to rediscover his old magic and dominate the sport of darts once again.