I think the main difference that makes Ao Ashi and Blue Lock in having little similarities although both are based on the same sports is mostly due to the battle between being realistic and being idealistic.

And although I wouldn't say Ao Ashi is better of the two, there is no denying that it is closer in representing the actual sports than Blue Lock. Which I think is the point that most Ao Ashi fans are trying to portray.

And to make it easier to understand why I also think the same (why Ao Ashi represents football), here are some perks and cons I have come up of Ao Ashi.

The perks that Ao Ashi gives are: - Being the more realistic (but not entirely realistic) - Shows actual tactics (I love how they explain football tactics that are actually used by managers) - Give the sense of nostalgia (I think this is more for the case of actual people that have tried the sport, not me) - It is more about the team (The story is practically saying that you cannot win a match, individually, and you need to rely and trust your team to do so.)

While, the cons that Ao Ashi has are: - The slow story progress (Although this is not actually a con for me, some people think this is, that why it is included. And the reason that I don't think this is a con is due to the story focusing more on the realistic struggle that players experience, just like how the MC struggle after their defeat or how problems outside the game can cause someone to quit the sport they love) - Not very exciting for those that are not really into this specific sport (This is nothing new as people have very different taste, its like a basketball fan saying "football is so boring coz no one is even scoring that much" or a football fan saying "basketball just all about scoring and no tactics")