Don't blame George. That guy has faced so much ridicule over his creation, that it turned him off from creating 7-9. Can't blame him. He did exactly what all the Red Letter Media fanboys wanted. He turned it over to someone else. Now we're seeing the consequences of what being assholes gets you.
I went to TFA and TLJ with my best friend, who's not a Star Wars fan (or Sci-Fi for that matter), but he's a movie buff and enjoys the spectacle of everything. He saw the OT back when they first came out, but not since, and never saw the prequels. He was over this past weekend when TNT was running a Star Wars marathon, and he caught Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. This was just 2 days after seeing TLJ, so it was fresh in our minds. His comment during RotS was "this seems to be made with more care and deliberate pacing." He repeated the same comment in ANH. He then made the connection, "oh, but these were made by George Lucas, right?" Even a non-fan was able to see what effect the series' creator has.
Although many of you will shit on this, George Lucas is the Tolkien of our time, and John Williams is the Mozart. Believe it or not, up until the early 2000s, John Williams was scoffed at by the classical community, who saw him as a rip-off artist that didn't create "serious music." It's only been over the past decade that it seems everyone is finally jumping on the "John Williams is amazeballs" train. Sadly, I don't think the same will happen to Lucas until he's gone, which is what often happens to the greats. Mocked while they're alive. Worshiped when they're dead. Just remember, whatever your opinions are of his work, without Lucas, we wouldn't even have Star Wars to argue about.