denco,
I pretty much agree with you on the assessment of VDV. In sheer talent terms, he is clearly inferior to Nasri or for that matter Quaresma IMO. As you have said, I get the impression when seeing him play that he doesnt "feel" the flow of the game in a true trequarsista style of Veron, Rui Costa, Zizou or even Totti. In my humble opinion, based on selected matches on CL and International games, Van der Vaart is segunda punta, who are better off playing up in the field. Van der Vaart has pretty nice 10 in 40 at International Level, which is hardly Vieri-esque, but very good nonetheless. His goal ratio didnt suffer when he moved to Germany, in contrast to what one would expect (Sateeh linked one hell of article on goal ratio across different leagues in Europe).
So bottom line is, he will score goals at any level, and if, which is big if, VDV can net something like 17 goals in Serie A, then considering his technical capabilities, I think one would have to consider him as World Class. I think that is the trend in modern game. Play one up front, and play midfielder, who is more or less a forward. Lampard scores many goals from Chelsea, and Totti made a transition for Roma. If VDV can make similar transition to that Totti, I think for quoted price on his head, he will be a heck of bargain providing he stays fit of course. I am not a fan of playing One Forward, actually I hate it, but if you got players who can score from midfield, then I can take it nonetheless.
Just imagine:
Trezeguet; Nasri, Van der Vaart, Quaresma Combination.
That has goals, penetration, and above style written over it. Heck, even Iaquinta with his industry would fit in perfectly with those players, and VDV's goal scoring prowness would more than cover up Iaquinta's lack of such attributes. That is why I would like to sign VDV this year, and pick up Nasri or Quaresma next year with the possible lure of CL football with the prospect of reviving the biggest team in the world.
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