Could it possibly be because of his new boots the Adidas F50+? I read an article about the boots and DP spoke about them in it saying that they are so light that they give him that extra speed boost allowing him to get to the ball faster and get a better first touch. I saw him in action against Lecce a couple of weeks back when he first started to wear those boots and he did infact look sharper and quicker.
I could very well be wrong, but I was thinking and DP has always been brilliant technically but lack of pace has been a shortcoming of his ever since he suffered that injury in 98.
It could be that he's just trying harder or is fitter, but he's more energetic and a bit quicker nowadays.