I was going to ask about ground effect, but see para 6 in the reference below, which overall might clarify some aspects of the debate.
Note, it appears that the term ‘incidence’ (alpha) refers to AoA in the equations (pages 26-30).
Intuitively if Cl changes during the flare then AoA will change according to the Cl AoA lift curve?
http://naca.central.cranfield.ac.uk/...rc/rm/3602.pdf