Punchbag

David Moyes thinks that Everton can punch above their weight this season.

I think they can, though it's a game of brinkmanship with his thin squad. Back in the 80s, before Sky invented football, teams like Nottingham Forest (who are they you might ask) and Everton won the First Division title (not the same First Division which Forest are competing for this season) with only 14 players used in the entire season. The game is different now, not least due to having been invented by a television company in the intervening period, but teams have longer seasons, play more games in Europe, and have much bigger squads. There's an argument that the current top teams are better than those of the past - time was, a team could get promoted and win the league; I'm sure Sunderland fancy their chances come May.

Everton's troubles tend to be sine and cosine:

they do well one season and get into Europe;
they struggle in Europe, which stretches their always thin squad, and finish bottom half;
they do well and get into Europe;
etc.

To break this cycle, they're going to need a lot of luck with injuries, but more importantly, hope that their flexibile squad players like Jagielka and Phil Neville can not only paper over cracks but excel in these positions. Getting another full season out of Lescott will also help; it's one less position to have to cover over.