Unlocking David Ajiboye: A Tactical Shift for Carlisle United
Rob Elliot thinks the key to unlocking David Ajiboye might be as simple as flipping the pitch.
The Carlisle United winger, so effective on the right in last season’s run-in under Mark Hughes, has spent pre-season attacking from the left and is in line to start there in today’s National League opener against Worthing.
It is not a gimmick. It is a plan.
A winger turned inside out
Elliot has looked at Ajiboye’s strengths and decided they belong on the opposite flank.
“David's left-footed crossing is excellent. So when he goes to the byline, he's got that opportunity,” the head coach told the News & Star, outlining the thinking behind the switch.
The 27-year-old has long shown he can hug the touchline and hit early balls from the right. But his natural instincts pull him infield. Carlisle’s staff saw that in pre-season and leaned into it.
“David naturally likes to drift inside the pitch. We just felt like coming onto his right foot [from the left], which saw him score a few goals in pre-season, really suits him.”
So the move is about dual threat. From the left, Ajiboye can still go on the outside and whip with his stronger left, or roll his marker, cut in and shoot with his right. Old-school winger on one run, modern inside forward on the next.
For Elliot, it is also a building block in a wider redesign of Carlisle’s front line.
Fluid front line
“He's able to then open up the pitch on both sides,” Elliot said. “He can go down the outside and he can come inside.”
That unpredictability is central to what Carlisle are trying to become. Fixed positions are out. Rotation is in.
“We also like the rotation with Regan [Linney]. David and Regan have rotated in and out of those positions when Regan's played up front with Georgie [Kelly].
“It gives that flexibility for our forward players to not be locked down to one position.”
The idea is clear: if Ajiboye, Linney or any of Carlisle’s forwards go quiet for a spell, they do not stay in the same lane waiting for the game to come back to them.
“Hopefully, when you come up against teams when, for five or ten minutes, you might not get the effectiveness that you want – David might not find the ball or Regan might not find the ball or whoever it might be – it gives them the ability to move and rotate.
“That way we cause more problems and give teams less time to adapt to what we're doing.”
It is a small tactical tweak on paper. On the pitch, it could change the angles of Carlisle’s entire attack.
Inside knowledge on Worthing
Ajiboye brings more than positional flexibility into today’s opener. He brings history.
The winger, expected to shake off a back issue to feature, knows Worthing boss Adam Hinshelwood as well as anyone in the Carlisle dressing room. The pair have worked together at three different clubs.
Hinshelwood coached Ajiboye in Brighton & Hove Albion’s academy, then signed him at Worthing and again at York City. Few players understand the Worthing manager’s demands and patterns better.
Elliot will not waste that insight.
“We'll have a chat,” he said. “The way his [Hinshelwood's] teams play are clear, and you can understand they're going to want to dominate the ball.
“They're not going to put it at risk unless it's through being creative.
“We saw what his team at York did. They were a brilliant team to watch, played some fantastic attacking football. He's gone to Worthing and nothing's changed.”
Carlisle know what is coming: a brave, front-foot Worthing side that want the ball and know what to do with it.
“They're going to be an excellent team. They're going to cause a lot of problems. So it's a really good test for us because we'll have to be on our mettle in terms of with the ball and without the ball.
“Hopefully with David, because he knows it, it'll give him that edge as well if he's on the pitch.”
A winger on the “wrong” side. A coach who trusts rotation. An opponent he knows inside out.
If Elliot is right, Ajiboye’s new starting position might be exactly where Carlisle’s season starts to take shape.
