Gielnik returns as Victory prepare to enter post-Goad era

As Melbourne Victory prepares to host Western Sydney, Jeff Hopkins knows there's no way to truly replace what the newly retired Beattie Goad brought to his side, so he's not going to try.

Beattie Goad is the type of player that you don’t often come across in football, if at all. A Stanford graduate and future medical professional who is also a Matildas – the brain of a genius dropped into the body of an elite athlete. Replacing what she brought to Melbourne Victory in the wake of her midseason retirement is a task coach Jeff Hopkins knows he can’t accomplish, so he’s not going to try. Instead, he wants whoever steps up to fill the void to forge a path all their own.

Having previously juggled her playing career with medical studies, Goad officially confirmed that she was stepping away from football in the lead into Victory’s meeting with Sydney FC last week – playing 90 minutes as her side secured Big Blue bragging rights with a 1-0 win that ensured they kept pace with league-leaders Melbourne City and Brisbane Roar and stretch their unbeaten run to six games.

But while Goad’s move to focus on her career will probably help a lot of people in the long run, Hopkins can’t exactly pay too much heed to the utilitarianist perspective at the moment. Somewhat more pressingly given Western Sydney Wanderers are set to head to the Home of the Matildas on Sunday evening, he’s got to figure out how to plug a hole left by one of the league’s standout players, who had logged a full 90 minutes in all seven of her appearances for the club thus far in 2024-25.

“The important thing is that we're not going to get another Beattie and we won't try to get another Beattie,” Hopkins said. “We'll bring someone in with their own qualities and strengths and we'll just adapt the way we play a little bit in terms of the new player that comes in.

“There are a number of players that could go in there. Last week was a big test of our depth and I think we came through it very, very well. Laura Pickett, for instance, came in for, I think only a second start and I thought she did exceptionally well against [Princess] Ibini. So there's the possibility of dropping her either into the right-back or left-back role. Ellie [Wilson] will be available this week as well.

“I don't think we'll have any problem putting a player into that position and a player that can go in and do well but it's very difficult to replace Beattie.”

Of course, a player’s retirement doesn’t just remove their presence on game days, but also in the dressing room, on the training track, and on the road. And when the moment a player steps away midseason, as cordial and understandable as this one was, there are always questions around if there could be any kind of destabilisation or dropping of heads that follows.

“I don't think I have to motivate this team,” said Hopkins. “The team is very self-motivated. They get around each other.

“We're going into quite a difficult period of games now, three games in a week [against Western Sydney on Sunday, away to Brisbane on Wednesday, and away to Newcastle next Saturday] to start it off. We're in a really good position, where our team, our structure and the way that we're playing is pretty set now -- we're just making small adjustments for the different opposition that we're playing against.

“In terms of motivation, we're winning games and there's nothing better to give your team belief and motivation than winning games. So we're really happy with where we are and the challenge for us now is that we've got three games in a week in which we can accumulate nine points and that's our goal for this next week.”

One player who will feature against the Wanderers is Emily Gielnik, who missed Victory’s last two games – wins over Canberra and Sydney – after suffering a soft tissue injury.

Despite only playing in five of eight possible games so far this campaign, the Matildas’ striker is still tied at the top of the league’s Golden Boot race and with Western Sydney arriving in Melbourne with the worst expected goals against (xGA) figure in the league this season, per FbRef, Hopkins was clear she would contribute in some form.

And despite a trip to face high-flying Brisbane coming just days after, the coach is also confident his side won’t overlook the challenge that Western Sydney will bring to Victoria – having got the job done against bottom-placed Sydney last week.

“[Gielnik] was available last week but we decided not to risk her,” explained the coach. “She's had a soft tissue injury last week and we thought long and hard about whether we would take her and ended up not taking her; giving a little bit of extra time. She's trained fully, so she'll definitely be available for the game, and involved in some way.”

“We talked about [complacency] last week: Sydney FC are bottom of the league but a champion team still, with champion players in there. So the big point that we made before we went out there was never to underestimate anyone, league position doesn't matter. Let's not be the let's not be the team that sparks their revival and turns their season around.

“The message will be pretty similar this week as well. I look at the Western Sydney team and it's a good team. They play good football and they've got the cutting edge up top as well. So we won't be underestimating them at all. It's going to be a tough, tough game for us, but we're going to go out there, as we normally do, and go for it.”