David Ajiboye's Tactical Shift: Unlocking Full Potential
Rob Elliot is convinced the key to unlocking David Ajiboye’s full threat lies in a simple tweak: flip him.
The Carlisle United boss has shifted the winger from his familiar berth on the right to the left during pre-season, and the experiment looks set to continue in today’s National League opener against Worthing.
This isn’t a gimmick. It’s a plan.
A winger turned inside out
Ajiboye was one of the brighter sparks in the second half of last season, driving at full-backs from the right and catching the eye under Mark Hughes. That version of Ajiboye stretched games, hugged the touchline, and did the traditional winger’s work.
Elliot wants more.
“David's left-footed crossing is excellent. So when he goes to the byline, he's got that opportunity,” he told the News & Star, laying out the logic.
The shift gives Ajiboye the classic winger’s angle to whip balls across the box, but it also taps into his instinct to drift.
“And 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 picture changes. From the left, Ajiboye can still tear down the outside and deliver with his stronger left, yet the moment he checks infield, defenders face a different problem: a right-footed shot opening up from the edge of the area. Two threats, one flank.
Switching sides, then, isn’t just a positional note on a teamsheet. It’s a way of weaponising both feet and both channels – the chalk-on-your-boots winger and the modern inside forward rolled into one.
Rotation, not restriction
Elliot’s thinking stretches beyond one player. He sees Ajiboye as a moving part in a front line designed to be anything but static.
“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 dual role feeds directly into Carlisle’s attacking rotations with Regan Linney and Georgie Kelly. Elliot likes the way Ajiboye and Linney have swapped and interchanged in pre-season, Linney stepping up alongside Kelly while Ajiboye drifts between lines and flanks.
“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 intention is clear: no more predictable patterns, no more easy reference points for opposition analysts. If Ajiboye goes quiet for five or ten minutes, Linney can slide across. If Linney is starved of service, Ajiboye can switch. The picture in the final third keeps changing.
“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.”
For Elliot, flexibility isn’t a luxury. It’s the game plan.
Inside knowledge for a stern opening test
Ajiboye’s importance today isn’t only tactical. He also knows the opposition inside out.
The winger, expected to shake off a back issue to feature, has worked under Worthing boss Adam Hinshelwood at three different clubs. Hinshelwood coached him in Brighton & Hove Albion’s academy, then brought him to Worthing and later to York City.
That history gives Carlisle a rare advantage ahead of a first-day fixture that already looks demanding.
“We'll have a chat,” Elliot said when asked if he would lean on Ajiboye’s insight.
He doesn’t need a dossier to understand what’s coming, though. Hinshelwood’s sides have a clear identity, and Elliot has seen it at close quarters.
“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.
“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.”
So Ajiboye steps into the opener as more than just a winger trying a new flank. He is Elliot’s tactical wildcard, his insider on Worthing, and a key piece of a front line built to shift shape on demand.
If the switch sticks, this could be the season Ajiboye stops being just a lively outlet on the right and becomes Carlisle’s match-winner from the left.
