I would think the only way you can really do it is to play the ball-playing DC (Vermaelen I assume) in the role that best suits him, whether its cover (requires a bit more quickness) or stopper (more aggressive and overall better defender). I used to use a ball-playing/cover defender and he would put up great ratings, but that was mostly because he had perfect stats and PPMs for the role, along with a partner that had great stats for stopper.
Not sure about how a ball-playing/stopper would work, I have no experience with it and theoretically I can imagine it creating some problems if you don't have very stout guy as cover. But not sure.
Personally I always fit my formation and roles to the players' strengths, rather than trying to fit players into a predetermined role.