Thrawn said:

Too bad he didn't consider being authentic with Star Trek. I seriously have my doubts that he will in any way honor or respect the Star Wars universe, but that's my own personal viewpoint based on what I have seen of his movies. I sincerely do hope I'm wrong.

I don't think that's really up to him. Lucas' story treatment and Arndt's screenplay will define things.

Film director (if not also a writer) is basically more or less an operational director. In general, I think writers should get more credit than the director since they are the real creative force.