Angels Links: Sacha Kljestan traded to Orlando City

Official: Orlando City pick up Sacha Kljestan in trade with New York Red Bulls

After reports that Kljestan could be on his way to Los Angeles Football Club this offseason, it turns out he’ll be going to Orlando City instead, and boy howdy, Orlando got a good deal out of it, giving up the very inconsistent Carlos Rivas and actual promising prospect Tommy Redding for Kljestan and $150,000 in Targeted Allocation Money. There’s every chance that Kljestan may be over the hill and the Red Bulls sold him at the right time, but he’s been the best chance creator in all of MLS since returning to the league, and all signs point to Orlando getting a very good deal here.

West Brom defend Jake Livermore after player confronts abusive West Ham fan

There’s fandom, and then there’s going over the line, and it appears one West Ham supporter did just that recently, as he taunted West Brom midfielder Jake Livermore about his infant son, who died in 2014, leading the player to charge in the stands after the fan. Considering the circumstances, it appears that the FA may be lenient with Livermore for his conduct in light of the tasteless conduct by the fan, and here’s hoping supporters will be better about their partisanship in the future (wishful thinking, I know).

Mexican international Jurgen Damm warns about dangers of fireworks after accident

Tigres winger Jurgen Damm suffered a worrisome accident over the holidays, as a fireworks mishap led to first degree burns on the right side of his face. He’ll be out for two weeks as he recovers, meaning he’ll miss the start of the Liga MX season for the defending champs. "First of all I want to thank God because it really was a miracle that all this wasn't even worse. Hopefully, what has happened to me will help so we all learn that fireworks don't bring anything good in our lives," he said in a statement. For a player who is one of the exciting up and comers on the Mexican national team, and who is expected to move to Europe in the future, hopefully he’ll be better soon and thank goodness the accident wasn’t worse.

Young South American stars could transform MLS on the world stage

I hope you don’t mind that I’m tooting my horn a bit here, but I wrote this piece on MLSsoccer.com about the trend for MLS teams to sign a higher caliber class of young South Americans than ever, and what it means for the future. That group, of course, includes LAFC’s newcomer Diego Rossi. Will he help lead MLS teams to key results and help raise the level of the league while staying challenged here? Time will tell.

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