In an interview with AFL.com.au, Roos indicated he needed to develop a winning culture at a club that has not made finals since 2006.
"I'm not a great loser. I don't like losing," Roos said.
The former Swans coach said he was confident he could develop a team with good habits and good people leading it, and behind his relaxed demeanour was a competitor who wanted to win.
"We're all really competitive. Losing is not easy. I don't cope with that well," he said.
"But as long as you can keep perspective on where you are as a footy club and what you are trying to achieve … [and] put in place, a lot of the things we believe will work … I'm not too focused on results."
Roos said he would not know what his list was capable of achieving until he saw Melbourne play but in reality he was preparing for ups and downs.
"[I'm looking] forward to being on the journey with the players to be honest. It's going to be a long journey but I think we're up for it," Roos said.
But Roos was prepared to make one early promise to long-suffering Demon supporters: they would play a brand of football that would be identifiable early in the season.
"After round five or six, the Melbourne supporters can say, 'I can see where this team is going now'," Roos said.
"That is what I really want to deliver to the Melbourne supporters - that they have got a brand."
Roos said successful teams such as Hawthorn, Fremantle, Geelong and the Sydney Swans perfected a brand and were able to stick to it in games regardless of what their opponents threw at them.
"You know what you are going to watch when you go and see those teams," he said.
Roos turned the Swans into a brilliant stoppage team, who defended vigorously and won the ball in close when he coached them.
The club played in two consecutive Grand Finals under Roos and won the 2005 premiership, a win that broke a 72-year drought for the red and white. His winning percentage as coach was 57.
He said he would not know until games began how the Demons would respond when their opposition kicked consecutive goals against them.
"Does the baggage of years past come back to haunt you or do you stick to the game style and continue to turn the game around?" he said.
Roos said Melbourne's talent was better on paper than that of a team that won just two games last season, but he admitted the group he took over was low on confidence and frustrated.
He said the recruits and new coaches helped freshen up the club and he was continually reinforcing to the players that the new faces did not carry any baggage.
It meant every player started on an equal footing.
As a coach he also identified each individual's strengths rather than dwelling on their weaknesses.
"One of the positives of the coaching group at the moment is that we never really focus too much on the negative," Roos said. "We always focus on what they [the players] could do."
Melbourne has a chance to make a strong start to the season with games against St Kilda, West Coast, Greater Western Sydney, Carlton and Gold Coast in the first five rounds.
"We think the talent is better than two (wins) and 20 (losses) but we'll find out once we get into the season," Roos said.
