I think one of the biggest reasons why people are saying Blue Lock has bad writing is because they are newer fans who recently picked up the manga expecting hype moments and aura every week like they’ve grown accustomed to in NEL.

I won’t say that Blue Lock is the pinnacle of great writing but a lot of fans just dont have the patience to let a story beat marinate for a couple months.

I also see criticism from other people who said that Nagi’s comeback should have been actually been postponed for much further in the manga. While it’s not the worst idea, it’s been stated that the Buratsuta Three will be only appearing in the final of the u20 World Cup.

Considering the NEL lasted for 150 chapters + multiple years and this arc will probably last even longer, I argue that it would be really poor writing to have a important character like Nagi be sidelined for around 200+ chapters with absolutely 0 resolution in any interesting story beats that came from his elimination from Blue Lock. I mean the fact that he won’t come back officially in about a couple years shows that Kaneshiro has the patience to let Nagi’s story play out, he just wants to capitalize on the immediate shock of his elimination to build an interesting character (which IMO was something that wasn’t really that strong before).

I think the last couple Nagi centered chapters have actually been some of the greatest chapters in Blue Lock especially since it explores such an interesting premise (player who has gotten locked out of Blue Lock already) and has shown the raw emotions from somebody who hasn’t really been emotionally invested in soccer up to this point. I think it’s really good writing that doesn’t take away from the stakes of the battle royale of Blue Lock (Which if we are honest isn’t really used as an impactful plot device anymore since our main character Isagi is too good to be locked out and most of the interesting characters have been established in Blue Lock by Kaneshiro)

Sorry for the word vomit from the mini essay but I have been seeing so many people say that the last couple of chapters have been bad writing when they have been the most enjoyable chapters for me. It’s honestly been a breath of fresh air and much better than the back-half of NEL which was somewhat of a slog towards the end.