Everton: 5 Things Toffees Must Do to Challenge for the Champions League 2012-13

Everton have, for years, gained plaudits and respect for seemingly punching above their weight in the Premier League, challenging for a Europa League place most seasons and always giving the very top sides in the division a real game when they meet.

Their squad depth has not always allowed for a real tilt at a top-four place, yet they have finished outside the top eight of the league only once since 2004-05.

On the flip side of that, only in that exact season did they manage to finish inside the top four.

So what do Everton need to do to challenge for a place inside that group this season and earn a 2012-13 Champions League spot?

Here are five things which would help the Toffees on their way.

Everton have a squad of 22 senior players, which includes the likes of youngsters Shane Duffy, Conor McAleny and Ross Barkley who have minimal first-team experience with the club.

Rotation is a good thing when you can do it, but that option doesn't exist for David Moyes in the way it does for Roberto Mancini or Roberto di Matteo, who can switch their squads around without drastically reducing the quality on show.

Everton desperately need to keep the likes of Phil Jagielka, Marouane Fellaini, Nikica Jelavic and Steven Pienaar fit, but Moyes will have his work cut out keeping them both fit and in the team week in, week out.

Hard though it may be to hear, Everton have no chance of competing on three fronts this season.

If they harbour genuine aspirations of reaching the top four of the Premier League, they will need to forgo the temptation of fielding regular starters in the FA and League Cups.

As per the previous slide, they do not have the quality in depth to rotate their top players and keep the same level of performance and will need to give their main men a chance to rest.

Over the Christmas and New Year period, Everton will face a quickfire set of five or six league fixtures and will need to give some a rest when the FA Cup comes up in early January, even if they draw one of the Premier League's big guns.

They might not have strength in depth all over the pitch, but David Moyes has put together a rather handy-looking front line this summer.

Added to winter signing Nikica Jelavic has been his former Rangers teammate, Steven Naismith, and most recently, Belgian international Kevin Mirallas.

Throw into the mix the presence of Marouane Fellaini, almost certain to be a regular starter this season behind the centre forward after the sale of Tim Cahill, and Everton have a potent attacking force at their disposal.

Both Mirallas and Naismith will be expected to pitch in with goals, but both will also likely play down the flanks as often or even more frequently as they play through the centre, with Jelavic remaining the Blues' main source of finding the net.

Selling Jack Rodwell might not have been top of every Everton fans' wishlist for the summer, but the club might feel they had gotten as much out of the player as they could and received a relatively hefty fee for the England international.

While about half of that money went on the signing of Mirallas, they might still have enough for another player after only bringing in Pienaar on a permanent deal from Spurs and Naismith on a free transfer in other signings this summer.

If they go on to sell Leighton Baines, a reported Manchester United target (though they have since signed Dutchman Alexander Buttner), they should continue to re-invest the recouped money into the team.

Adding another quality central midfielder to complement Darron Gibson or a right-back to challenge Tony Hibbert would go some way to improving the squad.

Normally considered slow starters who take time to get into their stride at the beginning of the season, Everton this time around shocked Manchester United by winning 1-0 in their opening fixture.

To give themselves a shot at attaining a top-four spot, Everton need to really capitalise on that start by not dropping silly points early on in the campaign.

Nobody is suggesting that they will embark on a seven-match winning streak, but between now and late October (when they face Liverpool in the Merseyside derby), Everton will only face one side who finished above them in last season's Premier League—Newcastle United.

They have to go into these next half-a-dozen or so fixtures with the mindset that they are the better team and can take all three points with regularity if they are to challenge for the top league places.

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