He just complimented him for doing a good job and not make Luffy and the world of One Piece seem like a different world than the Manga!
Filler stay Filler. Changing up scenes from the Manga to stretch them or providing some fanservice stay uncanon.
He literally said he has no involvement in the Anime at all (apart of providing color schemes, character designs)... I doubt Oda even wastes his time to watch the weekly episode lol. Stop trying to twist this fact just cause Oda compliments the director for doing a pretty good job.