POWER TRIP
Taylor takes aim at MVG
PHIL TAYLOR says Michael van Gerwen is light years away from threatening his record as the finest darts player of all time – because he’s still not even the greatest in Holland.
T o dat e , Van
Gerwen has won three world titles – two fewer than compatriot Raymond van Barneveld and Taylor’s old mentor Eric Bristow.
And when the William Hill PDC World Championship opens on Tuesday at Alexandra Palace in front of a reduced 1,000 crowd, MVG will have his work cut out to close the gap.
Taylor, who retired three years ago with 16 world titles, said: “You know what? I would have loved to play against Michael now – loved it.
“Don’t get me wrong, he is a fantastic talent, a flamboyant player and who knows what he could go on to achieve?
“But the world’s greatest player of all time? He’s not even the greatest player to come out of Holland – Barney has still won more world championships than Michael has.
“And so has Eric, God rest his soul.
“Now he’s a family man with young kids, it’s only going to get harder for Michael.
“Instead of thinking about his next match, the next tournament, the next big payday, he will be thinking about the next flight home to see his wife and children – and good on him.
“But I’ll leave the debate about who’s the greatest for other people to sort out.
“I’ll stand by my record and we’ll see how Michael’s stacks up against mine when he’s done.
“The lad has done brilliantly so far, he’s a cracking player and I don’t want to run him down, but he’s got a long way to go.
“He was in tears after he won at Ally Pally one year, wasn’t he? Trust me, he would have done a lot of crying if I was 20 years younger!”
HOLL OF A DISS: MVG
RAY OF HOPE: Van Barneveld