Marcell Jansen

Marcell Jansen

Jansen at practice with HSV in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Marcell Jansen
Date of birth	(1985-11-04) 4 November 1985 (age 31)
Place of birth	Mönchengladbach, West Germany
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Left back
Youth career
1990–1993	SV Mönchengladbach
1993–2004	Borussia Mönchengladbach
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2004–2007	Borussia Mönchengladbach	73	(5)
2007–2008	Bayern Munich	17	(0)
2008–2015	Hamburger SV	152	(20)
2009	Hamburger SV II	1	(0)
Total		242	(25)
National team
2004–2005	Germany U21	4	(1)
2005–2014	Germany	45	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Marcell Jansen (German pronunciation: [maʁˈsɛl ˈjansən]; born 4 November 1985) is a retired German footballer. He was well known for his accurate crossing and pace, despite his tall stature. He played primarily as a left back and can even play as a striker or left-winger, which indicates his versatility.

Joining Borussia Mönchengladbach from local SV Mönchengladbach in 1993, Jansen was already capped various times for Germany on youth level when then Mönchengladbach manager Ewald Lienen appointed him to act as an unused substitute in a Bundesliga fixture of the club against Hannover 96 (0–2) in September 2003. Ironically that remained Ewald Lienen's final game in charge of Mönchengladbach and Jansen had to go on playing for the U-19 of the club. The start of the 2004–05 season saw the player gaining senior status, getting his games with the U-23 of the club in the fourth German division under manager Horst Köppel. A change of manager in Mönchengladbach's professional squad saw Dick Advocaat taking charge and soon after the Dutchman relied on Jansen, giving the left-footed defender the opportunity to debut in Mönchengladbach's first team in an away fixture at Hertha BSC (0–6) in December 2004. When the result turned out to become a disaster in the second-half, Jansen even caused a foul inside the box, resulting in a penalty. However, Dick Advocaat kept faith in him despite this rather uninspiring debut. An injury that sidelined Mönchengladbach's skipper Christian Ziege in winter training worked out Jansen's big first-team opportunity. A string of impressive performances later he was even able to keep newly signed Belgian international Filip Daems (Ziege's proposed replacement) off the starting berth on left-back and enjoyed a bright debut season in the professional game, winning a key role for the German U21 as well. After making 9 nine appearances for Mönchengladbach, Jansen scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw against VfL Bochum.