Maven was peak Java build tool. I detest Gradle. Some people just hate XML enough to doom us all.
Maven's requirement that you write plugins meant that you had to have a decent understanding of the conventions that Maven brought to the table before you could inflict some monster on the world.
In Gradle you can do something quick to get your idea working how ever terrible it is and however much it defies convention or breaks the expectations of anyone coming to the project later on.
So many things, even if they came much later, are somehow much worse.