Of course there is a middle ground, but it's always these two extremes that get rolled out for the sake of argument. I think that is why the artist wrote "both" here: not because there are only two playstyles, but because both sides of that evergreen argument are valid and therefore, everything in between is as well.
At least that's my take on it. We could always ask Niels about it.
I've had GMs and groups that were running a game that they enjoyed and worked for them. It didn't work for me because we just wanted different things. I don't see anything wrong with accepting that a different group of people simply want something out of a game I do not. Sometimes the amount you would have to compromise would just leave both side unhappy.