You're assuming that squad is god enough for a top 3 finish. Let's say that Milan and merda are clearly ahead of us, we are competing with Napoli & Roma at least for one spot. Not to mention that there is still Udinese, fiorentina and Lazio that could yet strengthen before the end of August. That being said we will actually need a lot of luck to make 3rd spot.
The problem as I see it is, that squad is built for a top 3 finish, if we bet a bad run of injuries, a spell of bad form, run into a highly motivated team then all of a sudden we finish 5th and we fail. If we go out and purchase some real quality (we will have to over pay to get them but so be it!) and build a squad to compete to win Serie A and be run into bad luck we still finish second or third, make the Champions League and with the financial benefits that comes with that we can continue to strengthen with true quality.
I simply fear that if we build a squad with ambitions of top 3 only, we will simply be paving the way for a dynasty of mediocrity
good point. Personally, I think Lazio are being grossly underestimated by people here and with one more CB and a mid, which they are gonna get, will be a very strong candidate for 3rd place.
Udinese, on the other hand, I don't see finishing better than 7-8th this year; doubt they would recover this quickly from selling off a good part of their best players.
Fiorentina is a shot in the dark at this point, I think.
All in all, I'd put Juve, Roma, Napoli, Lazio more or less at the same level - I am considering future signings, given the rumours - in the fight for 3rd place, provided Milan and Inter come out as strong as expected.
As you said, it's dangerous building a team for 3rd place considering plans often don't pan out exactly.
We beat Milan and Inter with a lesser squad. We struggled with the lesser teams.
Don't expect Napoli and Lazio to repeat the feat. of last season, even Napoli's coach said that.
So did Cesena and Palermo with Milan, and Udinese and some others with Inter.
Parma beet the crap out of Juve but that didn't exactly helped them finish above you.