Wayne Rooney spent the majority of Everton's 3-0 Europa League defeat to Atalanta in a left-back position, his heatmap has revealed.

The striker, who was brought in to replace £75million man Romelu Lukaku in the summer, apparently had very little to do in the opposition's penalty area.

Atalanta pressed high up the pitch from the very first whistle, and the Toffees were pinned back in their own half for large spells of the game.

Rooney, who has never been one to shirk his defensively responsibilities, played increasingly deeper to help his side deal with the onslaught.

The 31-year-old played the majority of the fixture in a left-back position (
Image:
AFP)
Rooney's Everton side were outclassed by the talented Serie A outfit (
Image:
Getty Images Europe)

And for the most part was found playing in a left-back position, with Leighton Baines either moving inside, or, at times, ahead of him.

Rooney came close to finding the back of the net for Everton just 13 minutes into the match - when the scores were level - but was forced to shoot from long-range as the away side struggled to make ground further up the pitch.

Atalanta's intense pressing play saw Everton ride wave after wave of attacking football, as Rooney and Gylfi Sigurdsson seemingly got in each other's way in a number 10 role.

Rooney spent most of the game playing on the left
Rooney was unable to do much in the attacking quarters of the pitch (
Image:
REUTERS)

The 31-year-old did however find some space when drifting to the right, in the odd moments Everton advanced up the field of play.

Interestingly, the striker also spent a lot of time in his own penalty area, presumably when back to defend against all of the six corners that were whipped in.

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