If he was creative, wouldn't he actually create something? He doesn't. He is 18th on the team in Key Passes per game, behind players like Michael Keane and Jerry Mina. He's 17th on the team in chances created in open play per 90 minutes. He's one of the least creative players in the entire side. I wish he was better.
Gana Gueye, who everyone agrees is limited in terms of going forward, averages twice as many in both categories. He also averages considerably more passes forward than Gomes (and everyone else in the team) and about the same number of passes sideways. Gana is certainly not creative, correct?
He's also legitimately terrible defensively. He's one of the 5 worst players in the league at getting dribbled past. He also average more fouls per game than everyone in the entire league. He's slow, probably too slow for this league, which would be fine if he was good positionally, but he averages less than an interception per game while playing defensive midfield often. This is completely obvious WITHOUT the stats and just by watching the game, but it almost NEVER gets mentioned for some strange reason.
So to me, the ONLY explanation for why some of this board and others think so highly of the guy is that they are simply blinded by his dribbling and his good passing range. I wish it produced more. I wish others could see how obviously bad he is defensively - it's SO obvious and certainly frustrating to watch.