I'm all for a more fluid passing game, but WBA had that under a few years ago and were still shit.
As much as I dislike him, Fergie gets the balance right where his sides can pass most sides off the park, but he will also vary and evolve his tactics. His early PL sides were very 'defend deep and hit on the break' away from home and when he has a big striker (Hughes and RVN) he's not afraid to hit him early. Lambert has a bit of that about him, which is one of the reasons his my pick for the job.
MON's Villa sides were an example where not being able to vary tactics hurts you, but then so is Arsenal under Wenger.
I just don't think there's one right way to play the game. If we can pass it and keep it well, have pace it the side to break on teams and big striker option in the squad, then I don't think we'll be too far off a winning side.