Phil Taylor on Michael van Gerwen “People are not frightened of him anymore.”

After Michael van Gerwen was toppled as world number one by the new World Champion Gerwyn Price, the 16 times World Champion Phil The Power Taylor says the players are no longer scared of the Dutchman after spending seven years at the top of the rankings.

After years of dominance from van Gerwen, Price is only the 11th man to top the PDC Order of Merit. The question now is, can MvG regain that aura of invincibility?

Taylor was speaking with the PDC.

“People are not frightened of him anymore. Where his ability he set the bar, people are matching him. It’s the same in snooker or boxing, people are not bothered,”

“So if he goes up there hits nine or 10 darters, people can do it back so it depends on how Michael is mentally if he can take the pressure. But he’s getting older, he’s got responsibilities. He’s got children at home, which are a distraction so it all depends on him.”

“But the circuit is so busy for them. I’m glad I retired, not at my age, I couldn’t do it.”

After Dave Chisnall beat van Gerwen 5-0 at the World Championships, then lost to Gary Anderson in the next round. The question was also raised about players who usually wouldn’t perform at that level, raising the bar against Van Gerwen and Taylor used an analogy to describe it.

“I used to call it the Manchester United syndrome. If Port Vale played Manchester United, they’d play well. You do play the player, when you say you don’t play the player, that’s rubbish of course you do.”

With the Masters now on the horizon, can van Gerwen make a statement or is this now the time for Price to shine? Will van Gerwen get back to the top of the mountain, or is this changing the guard in the sport.