Gibraltar head coach Julio Ribas rejects idea of changing European Qualifiers format

Following Gibraltar’s European qualifiers campaign in which they ended conceding 20 goals in two matches, against France and Netherland Gibraltar’s head coach has rejected suggestions that the European Qualifier format should be changed. Putting the latest results to "the fact is quite simply that we haven’t been able to perform to the levels that are expected of us and we haven’t been able to give Gibraltar and our fans what they expected of us..."
The 14-0 demolition of Gibraltar by France has led to calls across social media by a wide cross section of the public and mainstream international media questioning the format which sees top nations grouped alongside minnows such as Gibraltar and San Marino. Suggestions have included changing the format to a Nations League format, a Small States Tournament or even a preliminary round which would see the lower ranked nations play in a knock-out round.
Already these suggestions are understood to have been dismissed prior to the latest European qualifier group matches by UEFA association members. It is understood that proposals tabled prior to the European qualifiers saw a unanimous rejection of the idea with even the smaller nations rejecting the proposals. Something which has surprised many football observers who question the reasons behind such a decision. UEFA has, however, remained silent when asked following the latest European qualifiers campaign on whether any consideration was being given to changing the format.
Answering questions put by the Gibraltar Chronicle, on the issue Gibraltar’s head coach Julio Ribas rejected the suggestions of a change in format, providing an extensive response.
“With all due respect to all of the various opinions on the subject, which is one of the beautiful things about football, and with the greatest amount of humility after having spent over 30 years as a Head Coach, UEFA organises and delivers some extremely professional and amazing tournaments whether they be at club level or international level.
“When one competes at such a professional level, with all the rights and obligations that come with playing at this level, there will always be top quality national teams with an immense deal of talent at their disposal and others who are not at that level for one reason and another. But all of them professional outfits.
“The UEFA Nations League was created for this very reason, where groups are drawn by each national teams ranking.
“Euro and World Cup qualifiers are different as we all know, each team goes into the draw meaning teams of different rankings and stature will compete against each other. But even in these draws you can have some more so-called easier or more difficult groups.
“Unfortunately for us, our Gibraltar, we were drawn against three former European Champions and in France the former World Cup Winners and actual runners up in Qatar. Alongside these three we drew Ireland, a team full of Premier League players. An extremely tough group, but one that all footballers would love to test themselves in.
“Despite the potential of poor results and the fact that these can happen at any time in these European Qualifier groups, given how strong some international teams are at the moment, no I don’t think the format should change. Each team's results are a product of their own performances, ours included, and are not UEFA’s fault.
“Every single footballer and competitor longs and looks forward to these games, looking forward to and youngsters dream about testing themselves against the best in the world. They wouldn’t be true professionals if they didn’t, even if the results were not positive ones.
“We have to remember two very important things, in March and June we played against France and the Netherlands, and the results and performances were great. However, in September, October and November, this has not been the case. This isn’t UEFA’s fault, or the format of the competition or anyone on the outside’s fault. Our performances are entirely our responsibility and our fault.
“There are no excuses, we played with 10 men in Holland in March for the best part of 45 minutes, and having eight players missing from our June Squad who are important players for us, is also not a fault of the tournament format or indeed UEFA, or our rivals.
“The fact is quite simply that we haven’t been able to perform to the levels that are expected of us and we haven’t been able to give Gibraltar and our fans what they expected of us.
“Now is the time to believe more than ever in and get behind our players, our youngsters who are constantly pushing through into our national teams. Remember in football and in life the way to progress is not to look at others and look for their faults and defects, it is to believe, have faith and work as harder that anyone to reach your goals.”