My father in law (step father in law to be exact, my father in law is a die hard blue), doesn't really follow footy properly or support a club.
Sits down with me Christmas day, & proceeds to tell me he's watched a few of our games this season, (mostly so he can talk to me about it, which is nice but anyway) & how impressed he is, cos even when the side are losing they never look like they're beaten, & that he just sits & waits for the inevitable comeback.
People are gonna get bored of this comparison, but it is like Utd in the 90s. They'd be being beat with ten minutes to go, & you'd just sit & wait, knowing full well they were winning that match anyway, even when they weren't playing near their best.
Not only do we not know when we're beaten, the other team knows we don't get beaten too, that they can have the points in hand on 86 minutes yet we can take it away from them.
The psychological effect of that on the opposition must be as important as our own psychology, it practically encourages second guessing, panicking & hesitancy.