How much did Charlotte FC miss Pep Biel's presence down the stretch in 2025?: An analysis of the Crown's attack with and without the Spanish midfielder

By Brian Maurer

Pep Biel (CJ Hellner/Topbin90)

Pep Biel had the most goal contributions (10g/11a) in an MLS season by a Charlotte FC player in their history in 2025. Unfortunately, he missed the final stretch of the season, and his absence was felt in their First Round exit versus NYCFC during the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Since Biel did end up missing 11 games, including the playoffs, it seemed like enough of a sample size to look at the underlying numbers of what the midfielder's impact was for the Crown when he is on the field versus when he was off it.

Without further ado, let's get into the stats:

Biel's +/- in his 26 MLS appearances was a +6 with a +.27 per 90 average*. Those numbers put him right around eighth compared to the other regular contributors on the roster. However, it's worth pointing out that Biel missed more than half of Charlotte's historic nine-game winning streak.

Since there are a few caveats in how the +/- data looks, I then examine the team's final third production when Biel was starting in MLS games versus when he was out. I excluded his two late substitute games.

Narrowing down the list of games to his 24 MLS starts with over 60 minutes and then looking at the 11 games he missed (eight regular season/three playoff games).

Team goals and goal differential stats

In the 24 games Biel started, Charlotte scored 41 goals and had a goal differential of +6. That's good for 1.71 goals per game and +.25 GD per game. In the 11 games Biel wasn't involved in, the Crown scored 12 goals with a -1 GD. That's a drop off of .62 goals per game and -.34 GD per game.

The final product, when Biel was not involved at all, was 36% lower. A drastic difference.

SCA and GCA comparison

Biel had 84 shot-creating actions (SCA), which comes to 3.86 per 90 through his 24 MLS starts. He had 14 goal-creating actions (GCA), which averaged out to .64 per 90. As a team, Charlotte had 490 SCAs and 69 GCAs in the 24 MLS games the Spanish midfielder started in. This averages out to 20.42 SCAs per 90 and 2.88 GCAs per 90 when Biel started.

In the 11 games Biel was not involved in, the Crown mustered 15.91 SCAs per 90 and 2 GCAs per 90. Down 22% and 31% respectively. The lack of production without Biel is loud and clear. The amount of attacking volume goes down, and with it drops the goal production.

The playoff series

When looking at the Crown's First Round series against New York, they actually created close to the amount of SCAs as they had on average with Biel (19.33). The issue was that they couldn't turn any of the volume into a serious threat. Charlotte's primary attackers (Wilfried Zaha, Idan Toklomati, Kerwin Vargas, Liel Abada, and Archie Goodwin) had 20 shots through the three-game series. Nine of them were blocked, meaning the New York defense had them covered nearly 50% of the time in those moments.

Charlotte's attackers only managed five shots on target throughout the three-game series, which led to one Toklomati goal in the playoff round. With Biel being back, ideally, the Crown will have more quality chances in the final third, especially in the monumental moments of the season.

This is one of the key questions for Charlotte FC in the 2026 season: Will Biel's presence back on the field turn up the attacking volume and quality in the key moments down the stretch? Based on the data from last year, there is definitely an argument that his presence could alter the final moment for the Crown this season. Although this is with the caveat that he may still need additional help. This is because at 20.42 SCAs per 90 (which was the average with Biel starting) that still puts Charlotte near the bottom of MLS in 2025.

This means that in 2026, Biel will likely need some support creating attacking volume.

*All stats used in this article were pulled from FBRef.com