VAN GERWEN WARNS HOME SOIL PRESSURE CAN DERAIL TOP STARS
15/04/2026 By Aaron Nijjar
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN has opened up on the pressure of performing on home soil as he warned how expectation can derail even the top stars.
Mighty Mike, who sits fourth in the Premier League table on 16 points, returns to action in Rotterdam on Night 11 knowing a place in the O2 play-offs is within reach.
The seven-time champion reached last week’s final in Brighton but surrendered a 5-2 lead against Jonny Clayton, who went on to take the nightly title.
Van Gerwen admits the weight of expectation in front of a partisan crowd is one of the toughest challenges in the sport and pointed to the struggles of German players as a warning.
He said: “They always expect a lot from me because they know what I am capable of.
“In the past I raised the barrier so high for myself but also times have changed a bit.
“That is the most difficult thing to handle when the pressure is high.
“Look to German darts for example what happened to the [Martin] Schindlers and Max Hopp, all the pressure got to them.
“Sometimes it is hard.”
Van Gerwen is four points clear of fellow Dutchman Gian van Veen but believes he could have taken some of the pressure off himself earlier in the campaign.
He added: “I could have made it easier for myself here and there.
“I think if I look critically towards my own performance I should have had three, four or five points extra.
“That is not the case. Then you need to make sure you keep battling and keep grafting because every game is pretty important to win.
“You need to make sure you are in the O2 it is as simple as that.”
The world No.4 also declined to be drawn on the Luke Littler and Gian van Veen spat during week nine of the tournament in Manchester.
He continued: “You all know there’s been a million incidents. People like to make it a story, people love to write about things, try to make it big.
“You know I did a lot of interviews over the years, I know exactly what you want to hear out of my mouth. I know that but I’m not going to say it.
“This is absolutely nothing. Nothing really happened. Otherwise I could be in the paper with Phil Taylor every week guys, you know that.
“It’s also emotions, things like that. It happens.”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
