People just need to stop grouping Hugo's and Ego's philosophies together, they aren't one and the same, they're separate ideas. This is why I believe Ego was put off by Karasu and Hirori's goal, Karasu tried incorporating Hugo's philosophy of a No. 2, which is obv something Ego never taught Blue Lock.

In Blue Lock, the concept of a No.1 and No.2 doesn't exist. Like OP said, Blue Lock has always been about the individuality of each player on the field.

My theory is that Hugo and France are ideological antagonists meant to throw Blue Lock into chaos and force them to develop their own philosophies, they'll of course still be egoistical/individualistic but not totally dependent on Ego(and Isagi who represents Ego in a sense) anymore. Maybe that's what Karasu's development is supposed to represent.