Pep talk: Charlotte FC's leading scorer injured

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Just when Charlotte FC was finding some footing, gearing up for the stretch run and reloading with roster provisions, Pep Biel went down. Their most valuable and productive player of the 2025 season became a Leagues Cup casualty when the central attacking midfielder injured his hamstring Sunday night against Chivas.

Now Biel is out for four to six weeks. Coach Dean Smith reiterated the timeframe Thursday night, after he was able to factor in results from an MRI.

“He’s got a hamstring strain,” Smith said. “It’s not a tear. It’s not the tendon. Usually it’s between four to six weeks. But as we all know, we’re all different. Some can be sooner. Some can be later.”

Charlotte FC’s leading goal producer is likely to miss a minimum of four games of the nine remaining on Charlotte’s regular season MLS schedule. There’s a decent chance he’ll miss more. Charlotte resumes MLS play Sunday night in Cincinnati.

After an open date the first weekend in September, Charlotte FC hosts Lionel Messi and Inter Miami Sept. 13, which is the six-week mark from Biel’s injury.

Biel is having an elite season. He’s fifth in MLS with 22 goal contributions, tied for second in MLS with 12 assists, and leading Charlotte FC with 10 goals.

“It’s a big blow,” Smith said earlier this week. “I can’t overshadow it because he’s been outstanding this season. Twenty-one goal contributions [not counting his secondary assist, which MLS does]. But we had to play him. There was an opportunity to still get through to the next round of the Leagues Cup. … We were going out to try and win any competition we’re in, but to lose him is a big disappointment.”

In the process, Smith answered criticism he’s come under without having to be asked about it. Some in the fanbase have questioned why Biel was in the lineup against Chivas on Sunday night after Charlotte FC’s chances to advance from Phase I to the Leagues Cup quarterfinals had diminished significantly after a 4-1 loss to Juárez in the opener. Only the top four teams from MLS and Liga MX advance, so accumulating points is paramount.

In fairness, Smith would surely have taken heat from others had he not sent out a competitive lineup with Charlotte FC still holding a fighting chance.

As it was, Charlotte FC bowed out after losing a shootout following a 2-2 draw against Chivas. By the time Charlotte defeated Monterrey 2-0 on Thursday night, both teams had been eliminated.

After Thursday’s game, Smith took the blame for a disappointing Leagues Cup after missing three days of practice leading up to the Juárez game. He returned to England after a death in his family and didn’t arrive back in Charlotte until a couple of hours before the kickoff against Juárez. Charlotte FC came out flat.

“I’m disappointed that we’ve gone out, but I take full responsibility for that,” said Smith, who has failed to advance past the first round in his two seasons coaching in Leagues Cup. “I chose my family over the competition to go home after bereavement. I would do exactly the same again. [But] it’s been tough the last couple of games, knowing you’re not going to go until the end of the competition. But that is what it is.”

Shortly after scoring an acrobatic game-tying goal on a free kick in stoppage time against Chivas, Biel’s close friend and teammates Kerwin Vargas had this to say about losing Biel: “The Pep injury came like a bucket of cold water because we know how important he is to us.” [Thanks to freelance photographer Jorge Torres for the translation.]

Charlotte FC travels to Cincinnati on Sunday to face one of the top teams in the league without two of its three starting midfielders. Also missing the game is captain Ashley Westwood, who is serving a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation.

So who does that leave manning the middle? As far as Biel’s No. 10 spot, Smith mentioned both Eryk Williamson and Nikola Petkovic as logical replacements. Smith also said he considers forwards Wilfried Zaha and Idan Toklomati possibilities to fill in there as well.

Williamson has played a limited role this season, making three starts in 19 games played, while working to fit into Smith’s system defensively. But he’s known for his offensive touch and has shown it in flashes. The ball Williamson left off his chest for Westwood on Thursday night against Monterrey helped set up Charlotte’s second goal after Westwood found Brandon Cambridge, who found Tyger Smalls for the score.

“You look at [Biel’s] body of work this season and [think about] how can I piggyback off that and help some of the other guys get going,” Williamson said. “Or continue to push the guys who've been fine this year. Just taking that and hit the ground running.”

Charlotte FC filled its first big need in the summer transfer window with the signing of left back Harry Toffolo, a veteran of three seasons in the English Premier League with Nottingham Forest. Toffolo, 29, was a free agent after his contract expired at the end of the English season. He signed with Charlotte for the remainder of 2025 and three additional seasons, with an option for 2029.

“He’s what we needed and a really good age for us as well,” said Smith, pointing out that he’s on the younger side of veterans making the jump to MLS from Europe.

Smith, a Brit, has watched Toffolo’s progression through four divisions in English soccer. As a former head coach with multiple teams in the Premier League, Smith helped convince the likes of Toffolo and last winter, Wilfried Zaha, to make the jump from England.

“Getting somebody into the football club who’s got four kids under [age] 8 to move across the pond is a big thing for our club to do,” Smith said, crediting general manager Zoran Krneta and the front office as well. “To entice him just shows how far the club has come.”

Charlotte defender Nathan Byrne, a teammate of Toffolo’s while he was on loan with Swindon Town of League One, and Westwood, who shares an agent with Toffolo, helped seal the deal. Though Westwood said, via message: “This place sells itself. [You] just need people here for three days.”

Toffolo and his wife visited Bank of America Stadium for Charlotte’s 2-0 win against Toronto two weeks ago.

Attack-minded defender: Smith is happy to have a left-footed left back to balance out the backline, as he says, after asking right-footed Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty to play out of position on the left side for the better part of three months. Charlotte brought in Souleyman Doumbia on loan from Belgium in March, but he has suffered a steady stream of hamstring injuries since, which has limited him to 11 games [eight starts].

“He’s an attacking fullback,” Smith said of Toffolo, who has 17 goals and 45 assists in his career. “He can defend, but very good crossing ability, very good technical ability on the ball. And strong boy, as he’s shown in our medicals. He’ll be up there in the top five strongest lads in the group.”

Toffolo joined Charlotte in practice earlier this week, while he awaits a visa, bringing the rainy English conditions with him.

Australian striker soon to follow? Now that Charlotte has firmed up its defense this window, it’s turned its focus to getting some help at striker. The position is thin given the departure of Patrick Agyemang to England’s Derby County. A source familiar with the situation confirmed a published report from the Newcastle Herald that Charlotte is pursuing 20-year-old Australian striker Archie Goodwin. Goodwin scored 13 goals in 26 matches for Adelaide United last season, which tied him for the most in A-League, Australia’s first tier of professional soccer.

You knew Smith had to be lobbying Jack Grealish, the player he developed at Aston Villa to became England’s first £100 million signee with Manchester City. But it seemed too long of a shot to ask a legitimate question about it, right? Wrong. Sam Spencer of Soccer Sheet got an interesting response from Smith this week when he asked him a question related to LAFC’s signing of Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min, on a record $26.5 million transfer fee. Spencer basically asked Smith if Charlotte was trying to bag a big one, and Smith brought up Grealish.

Schedule change: Charlotte’s game in New York City against NYCFC originally scheduled for Friday, Sept. 19, was moved to Saturday, Sept. 20, still at Yankee Stadium. The change was made after New York City FC had to reschedule a game against the Columbus Crew while Citi Field, the secondary home stadium for NYCFC, was being resodded. New York City FC has a new stadium set to open in 2027 in Queens, N.Y. Etihad Park will be the first-ever soccer-specific stadium in New York City.

When/Where: 6 p.m. Sunday at TQL Stadium, Cincinnati.

How to watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Find information about how to subscribe for the season here.

How to listen: WFNZ 92.7 in English, WOLS 106.1 in Spanish.

Notable:

Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now in her fourth season covering Charlotte FC. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!

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