West Ham are refusing to make any rushed decisions on David Moyes’s future but they are under pressure to convince Tim Steidten not to leave his technical director role at the end of the season.
The mood at the London Stadium is uncertain after an eight-match winless run that has hit Moyes’s hopes of earning a new deal and caused internal frustration over the club’s recruitment structure.
West Ham brought in Steidten last summer and the German soon earned praise for sealing the signings of Mohammed Kudus and Edson Álvarez from Ajax. James Ward-Prowse and Konstantinos Mavropanos also joined as West Ham looked to strengthen after selling their captain, Declan Rice, to Arsenal for £105m.
However there is growing concern that Steidten, who was previously at Bayer Leverkusen, is not happy in east London and could walk away in the summer. Sources believe he is frustrated with the way that West Ham operate and feels that he has not been given enough power.
That could change if West Ham decide to part company with Moyes, whose contract expires at the end of the season. Steidten is expected to be in favour of appointing a new manager. West Ham have considered Graham Potter, Julen Lopetegui and Lille’s Paulo Fonseca. Thomas Tuchel, who is under pressure at Bayern Munich, is unlikely to want the job if he becomes available.
It is expected that Steidten’s thinking could change if he plays a leading role in any hunt for a new coach. It is potentially significant that he has made appointments in the recruitment department. He has brought in his brother, Moritz Steidten, as head of international scouting and recruitment and hired Maximilian Hahn as head of technical recruitment and analysis.
Yet there was uneasiness between Steidten and Moyes last summer and internal tensions grew during last month’s transfer window. Moyes likes to have a big say on recruitment and pushed for the loan signing of Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City but Steidten’s hopes of buying the Ghanaian winger, Ibrahim Osman, collapsed. Brighton have since agreed to sign Osman from FC Nordsjælland. West Ham felt that the asking price for the teenager was too high.
The window ended with West Ham failing to bolster their attack despite allowing Saïd Benrahma and Pablo Fornals to leave. Steidten has since been linked with a move to Liverpool, which he described as “an honour” last week. Moyes was not aligned with the recruitment team on attacking targets during January.
The lack of incomings has been held up as one of the reasons for West Ham dropping to ninth place. They have struggled since losing Lucas Paquetá to injury, with Bristol City knocking them out of the FA Cup, and fans called for Moyes to go after Saturday’s 2-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest.
While the hierarchy has resisted calls to sack Moyes, West Ham decided to delay talks over a new deal after losing 6-0 to Arsenal earlier this month. It had seemed that the Scot, who was close to being sacked on several occasions last season, had done enough to earn a new two-year deal after a positive run of results before the turn of the year. West Ham are in the last 16 of the Europa League and were sixth after winning at Arsenal on 28 December.
Moyes has also inspired wins over Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham this season, while he won the Europa Conference League last year. Some figures still expect him to stay but he is under pressure to improve results. There have been complaints over West Ham’s cautious style of play, with some players understood to be unenthused with Moyes’s brand of football.
However Moyes, who desperately needs a win when West Ham host Brentford next Monday, has time to build his case for a deal. His negotiating position will strengthen if he can revive his side’s league form and reach the latter stages of the Europa League.
