Anybody playing the Giovinco card, saying that we shouldn't buy a playmaker right now is a fool. Giovinco and a playmaker can coexist and we don't even know if Giovinco is ready yet. But God, I hope he is because we need him. BADLY.
Yes they can, certainly, but whether Ranieri either knows how to incorporate this and/or whether he is willing to do so is another story. We lack some creativity in the middle, but there are players currently in the squad who can create who haven't been given a real chance there so it looks as if Ranieri isn't going to go down that route regardless.
It seems Ranieri sees van der Vaart as similar to Del Piero, Giovinco and Palladino, forwards who can score but also create and play deeper off the midfield or even in midfield. So if this is true then I can see why he is loathe to go for van der Vaart (if this is true at all and not a smokescreen). If he is going to play Giovinco next season as has been suggested by Cobolli, Secco and others then it means leaving out Del Piero in this system which has proven a problem in the past.
It could work:
-------------------------DM-----------DM----------------------
AMR---------------------van der Vaart-------------------AML
---------------------------------CF-----------------------------
or
AMR--------------------DM-----------DM------------------AML
--------------------------------------van der Vaart------------
---------------------------------CF------------------------------
but not with van der Vaart in the centre of midfield.
When you see Ranieri will basically be trying to fit Del Piero, Giovinco, Palladino, Trezeguet and Iaquinta into three positions, it becomes clearer why van der Vaart may not be high on his list of priorities. Camoranesi is also a consideration.
My personal preference would be for a top class central defender and an attacking midfielder to come in the summer, but what Ranieri might go for is a defender plus another defensive midfielder. I can see why he is doing this but also why people don't agree with it.