What would you have done instead of letting them go?
Keep a Pirlo who is clearly over the hill and not able to play competitively for 90 minutes, even after he's had a week of rest since the last game?
Keep a Tevez who wants to leave, after what happened in City when he was unsatisfied with the way the club dealt with his preferences?
Keep a Vidal who made it clear to the club that he wants to leave?
I don't see it. I see us reacting to what is happening, not the management provoking this. On paper they've done quite well to mend the squad and launch a new project, and I'm just excited to see where it goes from here.
I was not intending to blame management for letting them go, my point was merely that this squad did not peak as it would have been even stronger this season if the three players have stayed one more year and we added players on top of them (any of Dybala, Mandzukic, Sandro). Even during last season, we barely got anything out of Vidal and apart from a few matches here and there (Olymiakos) Pirlo was not a key player he just did his job (basic distribution of the ball and organizing the midfield). So primarily we can give little credit to Pirlo and substantially less to Vidal for what we achieved. Tevez was absolutely instrumental ofcoarse. In other words, even last year that wasn't the full potential of the squad that we already had. I think its really obvious that this squad did not peak.
About what I would have done differently, I'd have tried to convince the players to stay on one more year. Show them the club's ambition in the market and how far the team is expected to progress. I'd have told Vidal that he would add a lot to a team that was doing very well without him. I'd tell him that if he regains the form from previous seasons he will be like a new signing. I'd tell them we are bringing in Mandzukic and Dybala to bolster the attack and a world class Lb, that Pogba is growing into a monster, that starting this season Juve's ambition and chances are on par with Bayern's. I'd offer him a financial bonus or year extension with an improved contract that has a release clause into it. Things of that sort. If all fails I'd force Vidal and Tevez to stay one more year.
Now I dont know what Marotta and co tried on Vidal and Tevez to convince them to stay so they might have already done all that can be done but the picture we get atleast from the media is that we were lenient. Vidal especially needed a harsher treatment. He has a career to care about and we do have leverage against him. He came off a very bad season and so if we had told him he is not going anywhere... he'd be faced to choose either to recover his form with Juve or to spend a year on the bench (making it 2 bad years for him). Many teams refuse the exit of some of their players and get them to play properly again we wouldn't be the first. This would work to a less extent on Tevez and Pirlo ofcoarse but again none of them would want a year doing nothing or in the case of Pirlo a forced retirement. We could have been strict atleast with Vidal.
On a side note, people here like to hate on Pirlo thinking that he was terrible last season. This is completely false. He was not the pirlo of the 3 previous seasons sure but in terms of performing the basic duties of distributing the ball and organizing the midfield and being a reference point he was still very effective. You saw what its like to have midfielders that can't distribute the last two matches. Pirlo always performed this job well even if he stopped doing the amazing through balls we all love him for. Pirlo even at his worst linked our midfield together. We will see this year whenever marchisio is absent how difficult pirlo's basic duties really are for the likes of Hernanes and Pogba.
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you think they'll sell Fekir for 40? No way.
additionally, you dont even watch our games(and not just the roma game) let alone other teams'
