Allegri spoke this morning ahead of the Serie A opener with Cremonese.
Asked if Milan will be contenders this season, Allegri said: "Favours or not favourites... Then there's a group of teams , and usually the favourite is the one who won the previous season (Napoli), then there's Inter, Roma, Fiorentina, Juventus, Lazio. We're in there too.
"You have to be very good at your daily work, maintaining balance. It's not a question of a three-man or four-man defence, but of the player's characteristics: if I put someone else in place of (Fikayo) Tomori at full-back, I'll have more momentum. But you can play in various ways."
Asked about Luka Modric, Allegri also said: "There's no need to talk about Modric's technique... His career shows it. He plays the ball more on the outside than on the inside, and very few do that. He's a very humble guy.
"He may not have the physicality of a 10-year-old, but together we'll manage him as best we can. He's in great shape physically."