Contested ball time in a game of football is much higher and time consuming at ground level than contested in the air. Always has been and always will be. Be the same this week to. It is contested in the air but to a much smaller stat now than years gone by when it was kick to position and man on man. Just watch any game this weekend they are all the same.
Don't disagree with that and it has changed over the years. However teams can still gain ascendency through dominating in the air and with Dom and Young in we bat very deep on mids, both contested and outside. Taking out Mitchell and replacing him with Clurey would have given us a chance at the first and not impacted very much at all in the second.