Van Gerwen sends message to rivals: 'If you always talk rubbish, and never fulfil your words, then you need to be quiet'

Michael van Gerwen will head into the PDC World Darts Championship aiming to reclaim the showpiece event after a barren year for the World Number One.

Van Gerwen spoke to the Guardian before the tournament begins on Tuesday night and admitted that a myriad of factors have led to his downturn.

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“The Premier League was a disaster. A nightmare. The mindset wasn’t good. If the Premier League is spread out over five months, no one’s going to beat me. But a lot of players can play well for a week," said Van Gerwen to The Guardian.

“What changed? There was the corona [shutdown], no fans, the birth of my kid, all that stuff together. Everyone knows I’m a stage player. That gives me a lot of buzz and adrenaline. I always liked to play in front of crowds. I don’t know why, but I’m a bit of a show-off man. So you have to make the right adjustments.”

Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright will feel they have a measure of the Green Machine but he sent a message out that it has been said for years that they are going to take over but it hasn't happened.

“But they say it every year,” Van Gerwen continued. “For instance, every year after the world championship, Peter Wright says he’s going to be No 1 in the world. He’s been saying it for five years. Gerwyn Price says: ‘If I play like this, I can’t lose.’ It doesn’t really bother me. People are allowed to say whatever they want. But if you always talk rubbish, and never fulfil your words, then you need to be quiet.”

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Ahead of the Alexandra Palace, Van Gerwen believes that all parts have to come together for success including mindset.

“I feel good and I think I can do some really good damage in this world championship. Winning tournaments: that’s the only thing that counts to me. But also, it’s about your way to a tournament. How’s your focus? How’s your sleep been? What’s the combination between your private life and work life? It’s not complicated, but it’s very difficult. There are loads of different parts. Everything has to be good to create something phenomenal at a dartboard.”

“Maybe it’s not the best thing to say, but I use Raymond [van Barneveld] as an example."

“Raymond was the most negative. And that didn’t work for him in the last few years. So I’ve always been a positive person.” How much does he suffer after a defeat? “Of course it upsets me, but not for a few days. It affects me for a few hours and after that I will be fine again.”